Other Side of the World
by Satan's Alter Ego
Summary: Welcome back, Upper East Siders. It’s been a long time, five years, in fact. But I’m back to spill all those secrets – who’s sleeping with who’s husband? Who’s in love with who? Who’s not happy? This is certainly a reunion Manhattan never saw coming.
1. Chapter 1

**A couple of things: this is probably a three part story. I'll update as soon as I can. All the stuff that happened in the television series happened in this. I haven't taken the book into consideration. Also, whatever happened in the show happened in the guy's senior year. **

_-_

_Welcome back, Upper East Siders. It's been a while, hasn't it? Five years to be exact. Five years during which some have travelled the world, some have gone to college, some have done what was expected of them and some have just done nothing. So, ever wonder where everyone is, right now?_

_-_

"Serena!" exclaimed Mrs. M, the oh-so-lovable Constance Billiard principal. Though the Five Year Reunion hadn't begun yet, Serena was already there. It was different experience for someone who was used to be twenty minutes late, to be twenty minutes early.

"How are you, Serena?" asked the principal, pulling away from the customary formal hug. "Your mother has been raving on and on about your success."

She shrugged. Was it success? A friend of hers had once describer success as the attainment of wealth. In that way, she was wealthy. Money had never been a problem for the blonde haired goddess, ever so often compared to Aphrodite. She was sure that she could stop working now and still manage to live a luxury life. Even if she didn't get enough money from her own career, her mother's divorce earnings were enough.

"Has she," commented Serena dryly. She didn't doubt that her mother would have gone on and on about her. Serena was everything Lily would have wanted to be when she was younger – _successful, _living without the continuous thought of getting married for money and without someone like Rufus Humphrey rolling over her shoulders. But now that Erik was happy in his second year of Brown, doing better than anyone would have thought, she had someone else to rave about too. "I think she's exaggerating. I'm not as successful as she thinks."

'How modest,' thought Mrs. M, smiling at the younger girl. She had heard about the success of the eldest van der Woodsen child for three years now.

"How is Erik?" asked Mrs. M. "I heard he's at the top of his class in Brown."

Serena smiled, fondly, at the thought of her younger brother. Her frequent trips to Rhode Island only increased their closeness, especially when Serena wasn't in the country, which was turning out to be quite frequently, too.

"He's doing great," she replied, "In fact, I'm coming from Rhode Island, actually."

"Oh, that's great." Mrs. M replied, nodding along. "I think more students are coming along, why don't you go meet some of your old teachers."

Serena rolled her eyes and headed straight for the bar. She could forget the awkwardness of drinking in front of her teachers, if only she had a vodka and cranberry in her hand…or two. She tapped her fingers against the bar, waiting for the bartender to tend to her instead of her chemistry teacher.

"What can I get you, Miss?"

She paused. As Chuck had put it, what happened to the Virgin Mary Serena who vowed never to take a drink again? Sardonically, she remembered last night. If she could do _that, _drinking was nothing.

"A vodka cranberry, double the vodka, half the cranberry," she ordered dryly, earning herself raised eyebrows from the bartender. But she didn't want to know whether that look was because of her drink order or the low cut dress her mother had insisted on her wearing tonight because she looked absolutely stunning in it.

And stunning she looked. Her wavyblonde hair was straightened for the night and fell softly to her back. Her big blue eyes shone, partially from the champagne she had swiped before coming here. Her face was a delicate rosy color, her lips were red and she looked the same as she had done during high school – absolutely gorgeous.

"Here you go, Miss," the bartender said, handing her the drink. She eagerly took a large sip, cringing as the vodka dribbled down her throat. Wasn't this familiar?

The Pre Boarding School Serena, as she remembered, knew this taste quite well. The Virgin Mary Serena had forgotten this taste. The High School Graduate Serena, however, knew this taste as well as Pre Boarding School Serena. It wasn't something she was proud of, but then again, she remembered the countless drunken nights all over the world, it wasn't something she would give up, either.

"Hey," the bartender said, sounding as surprised as he did curious, "Aren't you Serena van der Woodsen?"

She cringed. She hoped he wasn't one of the innumerable one night stands she had left the house of, early in the morning because that was one experience she would never like to relive.

"Yeah," she replied, nodding.

"Woah, I'm Jason Millerton…remember me?"

Honestly, she did not. So he continued.

"We went out when you were a sophomore. I was the swimming team captain…" he trailed off, waiting for the bulb to light up in her head.

And it did, but she didn't remember the times when they had gone out. She remembered the times when she had sneaked into the pool using the key he had given her.

"Right…" she said, nodding, "Well, how are you?"

"Great. I've been bartending for a while, went up to the Cape for a year. How 'bout you?" he asked, curious as hell to see what the once golden haired goddess of the Upper East Side was doing now.

"I travelled for couple years after school, got into the hang of going from one place to another and I started writing about it. I'm a travel journalist."

Nobody had expected Serena van der Woodsen to become a journalist, let alone a journalist about places where they didn't have electricity or water but she could safely say that she didn't expect herself doing anything less. She didn't know whether it was her constant restlessness that made her want to travel, or her constant need for excitement that made her leave a place after a month but it was the best thing ever.

"Wow, that's cool." Jason replied, "Are you still dating that Humphrey dude?"

Serena smirked. "We broke up after school. I'm _off _the dating scene for a while." Or try five years, she thought.

-

_Off the dating scene? That's not the S we remember but thanks to my still fabulous sources, I've discovered that the trip to Rhode Island to see Little Erik wasn't as innocent as she claims…_

_-_

Blair would deny, deny, deny if anyone asked her if she had become anything close to being predictable, or heaven forbid, her mother. But in the back of her mind, she knew that she had become predictable, and heaven forbid, her mother, when she went to the kindergarten school her daughter Audrey (who would've thought) went to and shouted at the teacher for letting her precious daughter play in the sand, effectively ruining the sun yellow dress her daughter was wearing.

Sometimes, she wondered whether Audrey was her child or Serena's. Because the five year old certainly acted more like her fun Aunt Serena than she did like her less-fun Mother Blair. Because of Blair remembered correctly, it was Serena who was out dirtying her sun yellow dresses in kindergarten while Blair perched on the bench with her legs crossed and sneered at her best friend.

Clasping the Tiffany & Co. diamond necklace around her neck, she stopped in front of her mirror. Five years, a marriage and a pregnancy hadn't changed her figure, much. Sure, she wasn't as petite and curvy as she had been but she wasn't fat, either. Her brown hair was curly, bouncy and wavy, quite like Serena's and her fox like eyes were getting older, tired and more stressed out, though.

She picked up the Cartier diamond studs from the vanity, pausing at the Swarovski encrusted frame with a picture of the happy family. Her daughter, currently sound asleep in her bedroom with the nanny, was wearing a pink sundress. Her husband, God knows where he was, was smiling fakely at the camera.

What a happy family they were.

She ignored the thoughts in her head and gave herself a once-over in the mirror before stomping out of the master suite and into the hallway. "Stella!" she shouted for the nanny, "I'm leaving."

The younger, pretty, obviously being fucked by her husband, nanny appeared in front of her. "Make sure Audrey has a good night's sleep. She's got a dance recital, piano and swimming lessons tomorrow. I don't want her to tire herself out for the dinner party I'm hosting later on. If my husband shows up, tell him to reach the reunion as fast as he can."

Stella nodded. "Yes, Mrs –"

"Oh, shut up," she snapped at the nanny before getting into the elevator that led down their 5th Avenue apartment building. The limousine was waiting for her, as usual.

She wondered what everyone was doing. Even when they had promised that they would keep in contact, this and that, during the graduation parties, none of her old friends actually kept in contact, with her at least. Serena was a given, though. The blonde stayed with them whenever she was in New York City. Nate and everyone else however, were just people she occasionally heard about here and there.

The driver stopped the car and she got out, looking at her old school building nervously. What if someone else was wearing the same dress? What if someone was more famous or successful than her?

"Hey, B," she heard the familiar voice.

She and Serena did the hugs and the kisses and the how are yous before they settled into the high school routine they had never left.

"Have you seen Kati?" asked Serena, snickering softly. "She's got four fucking kids."

"Are you fucking me?" asked Blair, smirking. "Wow, she must be as fat as a –"

"Whale, yeah, she is." Serena interrupted, finishing her fourth vodka and cranberry. "But don't mention it. Hazel said something to her and she totally burst out crying."

"Ouch," mumbled the shorter brunette, as they reached the steps into the school. "Shall we?"

"We shall." Serena replied, keeping her glass on the side of the steps. "Where's the husband, B?"

Blair shrugged. "Fucking the secretary, the assistant or probably himself."

She didn't know whether it was dark but a look of pure confusion, and sardonic amusement, crossed her face before it turned to the normal sympathetic. It wouldn't be empathy that would come from Serena, after all because nobody would ever dare cheat on her.

"Is he coming here?"

Blair nodded. "Unfortunately for us." She scoffed, looking around the whole place. "God, I don't even know why I married him."

You got pregnant, thought Serena.

"I would've been so much happier without him."

No, you wouldn't have, thought Serena. After all, it was because of her husband that Blair was who she was, the Editor of Vogue, the successful recipient of the Best Mother award which the Upper East Side unofficially gave out and the oh-so-happy woman which every girl wanted to become.

-

_Why so unhappy, B? Well, you know the Stranger You Married and funnily enough, so does S and everyone else. But are actually as unhappy as everyone thinks?_

_-_

Nate Archibald was probably the only one, he thought to himself, who hadn't done what he had wanted with his life.

He knew that Serena was a famous travel journalist who didn't stay in a city or country for more than a month. He knew that Blair was the famous successful editor of some fashion magazine or the other. He also knew that Chuck, with whom he had frequent contact, had taken over his father's company and turned it into an international empire. Those were plans which they had made halfway through school. Everyone in Constance and St. Jude's had an idea of what they wanted to do.

Except Nate Archibald. He knew what he was going to do, what he was expected to do, what he should do but he didn't know what he wanted to do.

But three years after he had done it, he knew that taking over his father's fallen empire wasn't something that he wanted to do. That didn't mean he didn't turn the fallen from grace company back on track. They were on again the firm for Eleanor Waldorf Designs. In fact, that was the first company he had signed on when he took over for his father.

"Daddy, Daddy," cooed a little blonde haired bombshell. "Mommy says she wants you dressed and ready to go in ten minutes."

He picked up the little girl, who had his hair and her mother's eyes. He didn't doubt that in the whole of New York, little Chelsea Kristine Archibald was the cutest child there was. Her blonde pig tails, big green eyes, she was the apple of everyone's eye. He had often heard people compare Chelsea to a younger Serena, who looked the same.

Serena, he wondered how she was doing.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, Princess?" he asked, picking up her up and walking towards the little girl's bedroom.

"Mommy said it was okay as long as I didn't fall asleep in Mrs. K's class tomorrow," replied the little girl, "Because Mrs. K doesn't like you and Mommy and she will take any opportunity to call you and Mommy to the school."

Nate chuckled. Trust his wife to teach her that. "Alright, but you better be asleep when we come back!"

"Okay, Daddy."

If someone asked him whether he was happy, he wouldn't know what to say. His job, although it was something he hated doing, was going well. They were finally back on track. His wife too was doing what she had always wanted, therefore she was happy. His daughter was a bundle of joy, also.

But were they happy?

He pondered, while taking out a tie from the closet. Sure, they had their fights but which family didn't? In the end, he knew that they were happier than most of the other couples in the Upper East Side. At least, he was sure that his wife wasn't cheating on him. And in the Upper East Side, if you're in a relationship without any adultery, then you're happy.

Rolling his eyes, he picked a blue and silver striped tie and went off to find his gorgeous, un cheating, wife.

-

_Well, N, you might not be doing a job which you wanted but unlike the rest of the Upper East Side, your wife isn't cheating on you…or is she?_

_-_

Vanessa Abrams hadn't changed her name after she had gotten married. If she could remember correctly, it was something to do with independence and wanting to be known as herself and not the wife of someone famous.

But the only bad thing about being known as Vanessa Abrams was that every woman in the Upper East Side thought that a certain Nate Archibald was free for grabs.

She smiled at her husband's name. It was a nice name, wasn't it? She could clearly remember the shocked faces of the crowd when they were getting married. Her husband's best man, Chuck, although slightly disapproving of the marriage was happy nonetheless for his best friend. Her maid of honor, surprisingly Serena, was happy too. But she had seemed a little bit distracted throughout the night. Blair, Dan and everyone else, however, remained shocked and awestruck. When they had started dating in high school, everyone thought that Nate and Vanessa were just a phase, like Nate and Serena. But turns out, as every invitee of the wedding found out, that it wasn't.

And to boot, they even had a little girl out of it.

Sure, getting pregnant right after school wasn't easy for either of them. Both were scared, nervous and absolutely terrified of dropping and breaking the baby but the up-side of having so many friends was that they were ready to babysit whenever the couple needed help.

"Hey, 'Ness."

Think of the devil.

She smiled and turned around, looking for his approval at the Jenny Humphrey original baby blue dress.

"Gorgeous." Nate replied, grinning. "Absolutely gorgeous. I'll be the luckiest man in the room tonight."

And old flare of jealousy came through, which every girl had felt during Constance. The luckiest man in the room would obviously be the one who went home with Serena van der Woodsen.

"You better think so," she replied, turning around to clip on her earrings.

Maybe Nate could be second luckiest. She looked at him through the mirror, frowning slightly. She knew that the job her husband was doing wasn't something he wanted to do or even liked but then again, she didn't understand the family agendas of the Upper East Side. Why wasn't in possible for a company to be passed down to anyone but the son?

Then again, she wouldn't know much about companies either. She let her husband take care of the company on his own while she did what she had always loved doing – making movies.

At twenty two, she wasn't famous but she wasn't unknown either. People knew who Vanessa Abrams was but they didn't go out and buy her short films, documentaries because she was Vanessa Abrams. She, however, was the youngest documentary maker to be nominated for an Academy Award.

It didn't matter that the nomination didn't actually work through because a much famous director gave his last minute acceptance to the nomination.

She focused back on her husband.

They were much happier than most.

-

_Happy, V? But if only a Lonely Boy could accept that, no? Don't fret, V, I'm not telling anyone._

_-_

Daniel Humphrey would have done anything not to attend this five year reunion. He would've succeeded in staying at home and doing nothing if it hadn't been for his insistent, twenty year old sister who wanted to go to the reunion so much. Even after five years, he didn't understand the fascination Jenny held with the Upper East Siders.

He tugged at the tie he was forced to wear and looked behind the hanging mirror, into the loft. It hadn't changed much after his father had moved out of this place into the SoHo townhouse with Lily. They had come to a compromise, apparently because SoHo wasn't the Upper East Side and it wasn't Brooklyn either. Though, his father came to visit him and his sister ever so often.

He sighed, thinking how bad this reunion would go. It wasn't like he had kept in contact with whatever friends he had from school. The popularity he had gained from dating Serena van der Woodsen had died down as quickly it had started after they broke up. Again, he was back to being the nobody who once went out with the somebody of the some bodies. All the other people he had spoken to – Erik, Chuck, Blair and Nate ignored him like the blonde. He just the boy who had been dumped.

His one and only friend, Vanessa was still there, even though she was going out with Nate fucking Archibald.

His friend's relationship with the Prince Charming of the Upper East Side was something he would never understand and quite frankly, he had never bothered to understand either. In the back of his mind, he knew he would be lying if he said that Vanessa and Nate weren't happy but that didn't stop him from protesting to their marriage as frequently as he could.

That was probably the reason Vanessa and him weren't that close anymore, but like he had denied being in need of money, he denied that him and Vanessa weren't friends anymore.

-

_That's not what Mrs. Archibald is saying, Lonely Boy. Ooh, lookie here, here's Little J._

_-_

Jenny Humphrey used to call herself a Serena van der Woodsen in the making. She had always looked up to the blonde, always wanted to be the blonde and it had once (in a time she would rather forget) become so bad that she was ten seconds away from stalking the blonde.

And now, she was halfway there. Her clothes line was more successful than she had thought, with little help from Eleanor Waldorf Designs and Nate's firm. In fact, she owed a lot to Nate's firm. She was partially happy, with the success of her clothes. She wasn't happy, however, with the way her brother was living off of her money.

Dan's writing career had gone down the drain, quite like his relationship with Serena. After a couple of articles published in magazines which no one read, he had stopped writing altogether and started living off of the money his father and Lily gave him and sometimes of the money which Jenny made. He would deny doing so but everyone knew it was true. Everyone also knew that nothing would happen so they just let it pass.

But enough was enough, thought Jenny, as she tied her Christian Louboutin heels around her ankles.

"Dan, let's go!" she shouted, standing at the doorway.

Maybe she could convince him to take a trip or something – rediscover himself.

A moment later, a ruffled and shabby looking Dan came into view. She rolled her eyes. She didn't even bother to tell him to tuck his shirt in. She wasn't attending the reunion for his benefit, was she?

No, she wasn't.

She was attending this benefit to smirk and snicker at all those people who had called her Little Jenny Liar throughout her four years of high school.

-

_You forgot to mention the other reason, J, something about N and love, right?_

_-_

Chuck Bass wasn't happy and he would admit it, live with it and then happily go and fuck someone else because he wasn't happy. His excuse to everyone around him was always the same and for some mundane reason, nobody ever said anything, not even his wife, except _her. _

He was Chuck Bass.

"Mr. Bass," said the nanny as soon as he walked into their fifth avenue penthouse. "Mrs. Bass told me to tell you to reach the reunion, immediately."

He nodded, dismissing her with a flick of his fingers.

Not many people were surprised with Blair got pregnant. It had been the summer when he had sent her off to Tuscany alone. She had come back with the news of her pregnancy. Obviously, his first thought had been an abortion. But Blair refused to that. They did the only thing Bart Bass and Eleanor Waldorf thought was acceptable – get married. They were married when Blair still had her figure. Nate was Best Man, Serena was Maid of Honor, their vows were utterly fake, on his part. Audrey was born a couple of months later. Nate was godfather, Serena was godmother.

He walked past the study, the kitchen and stopped outside the hallway, pushing his daughter's room open softly. She was sound asleep on the queen sized bed, her hands under her head. It was a picture to be seen, he thought with a smirk because not only did his daughter look gorgeous, because Chuck Bass was getting sentimental.

Two things had been able to get emotional ever since the birth of his daughter, he realized, his daughter and _her. _

"Mr. Bass," said the housekeeper, speaking quietly when he was shushed by his boss. "Mrs. Bass called twice. Miss van der Woodsen called once, also."

He nodded, brushing Audrey's head. "Alright."

Ten minutes later, he walked out of his daughter's room and into his own. Blair had already put out the clothes she wanted him to wear, which was an elegant Armani suit. He snorted, throwing them away and walking into his closet. _She _would never take out his clothes for him, he thought with a smirk. Nope, _she _wouldn't be angry if he decided to walk into today wearing nothing with his customary scarf.

He smirked when he remembered that _she _had his scarf.

He took out the clothes he was going to wear and quickly changed, walking out of his room. He kissed his daughter on the cheek, causing her to stir and quickly whispered good night before leaving the penthouse like he had entered.

Giving his wife a call, he pressed _3 _on speed dial.

"_Chuck Bass, where the fuck are you?" _the familiar Blair Waldorf-Bass hissed.

He smirked and decided to walk to the reunion rather than taking the limo, like _she _would have. "I'm coming Blair."

"_Get here quickly, everyone's wondering if you're even coming."_

"I wish I wasn't." Chuck replied before ending the call.

-

_Let's divulge into C's phone, shall we? He has six speed dials. Number 6 is none other than N. Number 5 is his secretary. Number 4 is his company advisor. Number 3, as we've seen, is B. Number 2 belongs to his daughter's personal line. But, who's Number 1 in your life, C?_

_-_

**Basically, it's five years later. Whatever happend in Season 1 happend in thier senior year. After that, they graduated. **

**Enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Quick question – should I let it be a three parter or turn it into a proper story? By the way – thanks for the reviews! It totally gave me an incentive to write this chapter much faster than I thought I would. **

**-**

**Chapter 2**

_-_

_Whoever said that high school ending with graduation was insane because for our wonderful Upper East Siders, high school's back on track. For tonight, at least._

_-_

If the parties and drunken nights had done something for Serena, other than winding her up in positions she would rather not remember, it was increase her tolerance for alcohol. She could proudly say that on her twelfth vodka and cranberry, she still wasn't drunk.

But she was bored out of her mind. She sipped the drink slowly, looking around. Blair was talking to one of the teachers who had given her an A minus on an assignment. Turns out, she still wanted to know why she had gotten that mark. Serena smirked, remembering how she had passed her Biology exams. Mr. Wellington and she had certainly changed the meaning of After School Special. Nate and Vanessa were talking to some people from Nate's classes on some movie related topic, on which Vanessa was babbling on and on. Surprisingly, they were the one couple Serena had been really happy to see, without pretenses or anything else. Dan and Jenny, who had been thoroughly ignored by her, were talking to some of Dan's Physics Club friends who were as lame as he was.

There was one person who was missing, therefore.

She drowned the twelfth drink, motioning for Jason to bring her another. It was there in a flash, because she was Serena van der Woodsen.

_Beep, beep!_

She looked down at her phone, _1 New Message_

After she clicked open, she smirked. _Meet me in the Bio class. _Still smirking, she picked up her glass and left the assembly hall, where the reunion was taking place. She walked through the school carefully, remembering all the fun times they had had there and also checking if there was anyone following her, Gossip Girl perhaps. They hadn't done so well in three years to start acting careless now.

The classrooms were open. In the English class, Kati and Isabel's husband were making out. Interesting. She always thought that Kati and Isabel would end up together. It was frankly obvious to anyone that they were best friends and one of the most frequent lesbian fantasies for everyone in school.

She pushed the classroom door open, smirking at the sight.

One person wasn't missing anymore.

-

_An Affair to Remember, S? So, who's the lucky guy?_

_-_

The seven place cards on Table Number 1, read: Blair Waldorf-Bass, Chuck Bass, Serena van der Woodsen, Nate Archibald and Guest, Dan Humphrey and Guest.

Blair smirked, Dan and Serena at the same table, that would be interesting. She was smirking for another reason. She had discovered in high school that there were few things she found pleasurable – dating Nate Archibald, ruining other people's lives and a personal favorite, causing Serena pain. It wasn't major pain, just the little thing that caused Serena to be uncomfortable, caused Blair to be happy.

"So, Blair," said Nate, sitting down on his assigned seat, which was right beside Blair. "How's everything going?"

She shrugged, smiling perfectly. "Great. Work is good but I have to travel a lot. I hate leaving Audrey."

"I know what you mean." Nate replied, grinning. "Chuck travels a lot too, doesn't he?"

"Yes, he does." Blair replied, scowling on the inside at the thought of her good for nothing husband. "He takes Audrey with him, sometimes, when I'm out of town. Inevitably, they wind up meeting Serena so that Audrey has someone to be with."

"Hm." Nate replied, as everyone around them sat down. He wondered where Vanessa had disappeared off too. "Speaking of, where is Chuck?"

She smiled fakely. "Work – he works too much."

There was a time when she had been in love with Chuck. The first two years of their marriage, when he was in Harvard Business School and she stayed at home with Audrey, she loved him because he was Chuck Bass. He was sweet, doted on Audrey and brought her presents. But then she realized that he was sleeping with everyone from his classes. Divorce was the first thought but what about Audrey? She spoke to everyone, from her mother (who said that unless he's cheating on you with a man, there's no point in divorce) to Serena (who said she should ask herself whether she really loved him). In the end, because of Audrey, they stayed together. He finished school, took over his father's job and they moved back to New York. After Audrey's sixteenth birthday, divorce would be the first thing on her mind.

"Hey Blair." Vanessa said, sitting down beside her husband.

"Hi," Blair greeted, whilst thinking, _Brooklyn Bitch Alert! _Where was Serena, so that they could snicker together? "How are you doing? I saw that documentary of yours, the one about the poor people in Brooklyn."

"Did you like it?" asked the director.

"It was good." Blair had hated it. Where the diamonds? The glitz and the glamour?

"Where were you?" she heard Nate ask, quietly.

"In the ladies' room." Brooklyn Bitch replied. _Liar! _Screamed Blair, in her mind. She was coming from the ladies' room and Brooklyn Bitch had been nowhere near.

"Oh, there's Chuck!" Nate said, standing up to greet his friend. They did the funky handshake before they sat down on either side of Blair. She remembered high school, when they had been on either side of her. With jealousy, she thought, where was Serena, so that they could be fantasizing about her?

"Hi, honey," she said, stomping his foot with her three inch heels. "You shouldn't work too much."

Chuck didn't say anything, instead looked around the table. Miffed that her husband didn't even bother to reply to her now, Blair pressed her hands into the napkin, looking down at her lap. She felt her neck prickle, indicating that someone or the other was probably looking at her. She didn't give them the satisfaction of looking up.

"Hey guys!" said the annoyingly sweet voice of Jenny Humphrey. She heard two chairs shift and the two unwanted Humphreys sat down, looking around as though people actually wanted them here. Brooklyn Bitch probably did, to feel more at home.

"Hey Jenny." Nate greeted the younger girl, like the chivalrous idiot he was. Blair wiped her mouth, although there was nothing on it, with the napkin and looked back up. "How's the design collection going?"

"It wouldn't be going if it hadn't been for you," gushed the blonde. "And of course, Eleanor," she added, remembering Blair's now elder, but still the same looking, mother. A couple of seconds later, "I wanted to thank you too, Blair. With the publicizing you're doing in Vogue."

To be honest, Blair had done that to make people realize how utterly awful the Humphrey Designs were, not to make her famous. Was she the only one who knew what good fashion was? Serena agreed with her, though.

"Now that you're _famous, _I'll stop," she replied sweetly, making the blonde speechless. Speaking of blondes, where the last member of their table?

"Have you seen Serena?" she asked Nate.

Her husband smirked. "It's Serena, she's probably fucking some guy in the coat closet."

"You just wish it was you, Bass," said the talked about blonde, sitting down with her customary drink in her hand.

"Hi Serena." Jenny said, making Blair raise an eyebrow. The girl had guts. "How are you?"

"I'm better than you." Serena replied, with the same sweetness which Jenny had showed her. 'Atta girl!' thought Blair, smirking as Jenny looked down into her lap. Everyone at the table, save for Lonely Boy and Brooklyn Bitch were holding back smirks.

"Hey!" defended Lonely Boy, "You're such a –"

High school happened again as Nate and surprisingly, Chuck, came to her rescue. The latter wasn't as vocal with his words but the former was. "Don't finish that sentence, Dan." She suspected that he didn't want to hurt Dan, because his friendship with her wife but she also knew that when it came to Nate, no girl (except Chelsea) came before Serena.

"Yeah, sit down, Dan." Chuck said, smirking.

-

_It's high school again, isn't it, B? With every guy's attention on S?_

_-_

Dan scowled, sitting down quietly. He didn't remember why he once thought of these people as being decent, even being their friends at one point of time. He remembered when Chuck, Nate and Blair refused to let him see Serena before his girlfriend broke up with him because she "cheated". He remembered when he helped Blair bring Georgina down. He remembered when Nate and him had taken care of Jenny and Vanessa.

He sighed. The root of his problem had always been the Upper East Side Prince Charming. With Serena, they had a past which neither of them could escape from. With Jenny, they both wanted the best for her but unfortunately, their ideas of what was best were different. With Vanessa the problem was still going on.

He _knew _that Vanessa and Nate weren't happy. She had told him so, on that night they spent a couple of years ago. They didn't spend night _together, _as he had hoped but Vanessa did stay the night, telling Nate that she was too tired to come home, when she was actually drunk. He wasn't as pathetic as people thought – taking advantage of a drunk girl? That was Chuck's area of expertise. But Vanessa had told him that they weren't happy.

Or was it _they weren't as happy as she wanted them to be._

No, Dan thought, it definitely wasn't that. If they weren't happy, then they shouldn't have been together. He spent the last two years trying to convince Vanessa that she wasn't happy, that she should leave him. Of course, Vanessa denied being unhappy and there wasn't any way she was leaving him, especially since Chelsea was still so young.

Stupid kid, he thought.

-

_Putting your blame on kids, Lonely Boy? Here's a reality check for you – like Harris Tweed and silk don't mix, neither does Brooklyn and the Upper East Side._

_-_

"Why does everyone have kids on this table?" asked Jenny, in mock anguish. "God, you all are just twenty two."

"I don't." Serena said, finishing off a drink. Jenny rolled her eyes. No matter how beautiful, gracious her idol may be, she was an alcoholic. Jenny was surprised that she wasn't drunk by now.

"When _will _you have kids, S?" asked Blair, interrupting Jenny's flow of conversation. Jenny scowled, on the inside, at the pretty brunette. "When will you get married? Settle down? Ha –"

"God, B, you sound like my Mom." Serena mumbled, making everyone chuckle and the brunette frown. "And I'm just twenty two. Unlike the rest of you who decided to jump from eighteen to eighty, I'm going to live a little before settling down."

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"We're not eighty, S." Nate commented, though he was grinning.

"Yeah, we've still got a couple of more years in our youth!" Vanessa said, grinning, like her husband.

Husband. Jenny hated that word. It wasn't that with husband came faithfulness because she clearly remembered her mother cheating on her father. It wasn't that with husband came love because everyone could see that the "love" that Blair and Chuck once shared was now gone. But with husband came stability.

And twenty year old Jenny Humphrey wanted nothing more than stability.

Stability with a certain Nate Archibald, to be specific.

She couldn't remember when she realized that she was in love with Nate but over the years, it had grown from just a crush, to an infatuation to a deep liking and eventually love. She tried to hide it, deny it and do everything but in the end, she knew that she loved Nate.

What was worse was that he was married. To one her close friends. She spent a lot of time in the Archibald house, in the pretense of being with Vanessa. But most of the time, she wished to catch a glance of Nate. It was getting so pathetic that she was even thinking of moving somewhere close to them. There was no way she could handle the rent of the Upper East Side but she was looking, just in case something cheap showed up.

She looked around, wondering what people were talking about now.

"Last I heard, you were in Hawaii." Vanessa was saying, talking to none other than Serena.

God, Serena was _all _they talked about. What was so great about her anyway? Sure, she was probably the prettiest girl in the room and a majority of the men (married, unmarried, single, gay) were staring at her. But she was a bitch!

"Yeah, there's a little island which has some amazing water sports." Serena replied, grinning.

"Where are you going next?" asked Vanessa.

She couldn't even understand how people found _Serena _more interesting than her. She was the one with the famous clothing line!

"We're doing a big cities thing for a couple of months. I'll be going to London, Paris, Milan, Rome, Chicago, Los Angeles – mostly the capitals and largest cities of some countries."

Vanessa nodded. Jenny didn't miss the unconscious way she grabbed her husband's hand. Nate looked up when he felt Vanessa's hand wrap around his and rubbed it softly, leaning in to peck her cheek.

It turns out that Jenny wasn't the only one enthralled by the couple.

Dan and Blair looked at them in jealousy, because the former wanted to be the one Vanessa was kissing and the latter wanted what the two had.

Jenny stared at them, feeling as though her heart was breaking, piece by piece.

Serena stared at them with a fond look, as though she was a sister or a mother who was happy to see them together.

Chuck, with his usual smirk, stared at them. Jenny thought that he was probably having a porn show in his mind.

Ew.

-

_Like S said, Little J, you're just sad it's not you who N's kissing._

_-_

"Hey man."

Chuck looked up, waving his hand to invite Nate to sit down. He sloshed the Scotch around in the glass before the blonde sat down, his hand enclosed around a glass of coke. Although Chuck still drank, he didn't drink like his father did – in front of a child. He knew that he wouldn't have a problem with Audrey drinking when she was elder (although boys were a different thing) but he didn't want to influence her too soon.

"Hey," Chuck replied, "Where's the wife?"

"'Round here somewhere." Nate replied, chuckling. "Where's _your wife?"_

Chuck raised an eyebrow at the tone. "'Round here somewhere."

Nate shifted in his seat. Chuck was sure that his friend was debating in his mind whether to ask about Chuck's marriage. To be honest, he wouldn't mind spilling some beans but there was a certain person who would kick his ass, as she had put it, if he did.

"How are you guys?" asked Nate, finally.

"Fine," replied Chuck, shrugging. "Don't we _look _like a happy family?" the sarcasm was evident in his voice.

"No, you don't…look, man, we've grown up here. You know how hard it is for a kid to grow up with parents who hate each other. You and Blair obviously aren't in love with each other anymore, I can see that. You should figure it out before Audrey gets old enough to know what's happening." Nate advised.

Chuck hadn't seen it that way.

"There's…" he started, but stopped. Was there another reason he was staying with Blair, apart from the obvious? Yes, but he wasn't going to tell Nate that. "There's another woman."

To be honest, Nate wasn't surprised. Chuck Bass was Chuck Bass. "Is she, like…just another mistress or is it something more?" He didn't think that his friend would have anything more than fling.

"It's something more," admitted Chuck. At Nate's expression, he continued. "It started a _long _time ago, like three years or something. At first, it was just sex, you know. Blair and I weren't doing it, considering we couldn't stay in the same room together without having World War III. I started spending more time with this girl and it got…bigger, you know."

"Oh." Now, Nate was surprised. It wasn't shocking to know that Chuck had been cheating on Blair. Everyone knew he would but actually cheating on Blair with someone worth cheating for? He didn't think that his friend a romantic bone in his body, especially after the Tuscany Blair fiasco. "Does she know you're married?"

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Yeah." He decided to bend the truth a little. "She's actually met Blair."

"Man, you're one sardonic asshole." Nate commented, rolling his eyes. "Does Blair know?"

"Probably," the brunette replied. "She – this girl, is the other reason I'm not leaving Blair. She likes Blair, apparently and doesn't want me to break her heart."

Nate raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And she's okay with being the other woman?"

Chuck could only nod.

"Do you love her? Blair, I mean."

Chuck shrugged. "I loved her. The first two months of our marriage, I thought we could make it work. We could be the couple my Mom and Dad could never be. But then…" he trailed off, looking down at the glass. "Then I realized that I _cant _love Blair. I just cant. I've tried, again and again to love her, to like her but it's fucking impossible for me."

"Do you love her, the other girl?" asked Nate, raising his eyebrows.

Chuck smirked. "I wouldn't admit it. I haven't admit it. To her, at least. But…yeah, I'm in love with her. I can see myself being happy with her."

"Wow, Chuck…_wow." _Nate said, getting up from the seat, "You should think it over. Don't let Audrey grow up in a fake home."

Chuck watched his best friend leave, pondering what Nate had said. Should he break up with Blair? It would make things a helluva lot easier for everyone. And Audrey wouldn't grow up with her parents hating each other. Divorce could be a better option for the little girl.

"Chuck," said the base of all his problems, sitting down beside him. "I want you to be home tomorrow night."

Chuck raised a brow. "Why?"

"I'm throwing a dinner party." Blair said, smoothing down her dress. "For our senior class."

"You're fucking kidding me," he hissed, rolling his eyes. "Why would you fucking do that?"

"Mrs. M wanted _someone _to do it and she came to me." Blair replied, getting up with a fake smile. "Now, be there, don't be drunk, be on time and don't you fucking come with some slut's perfume all over you."

-

_How are you so sure it's a slut, B? It could be someone around you? It could even be the Channel No. 5 who was in the bathroom or the Elizabeth Arden who smiled at you._

_-_

She had been there for over an hour and a half and frankly, Serena was tired. She wasn't physically tired, she was mentally tired with acting as though everything was perfect. Everything wasn't perfect. It might've good but she knew that perfection was something no one in that room could achieve, except maybe Nate and Vanessa.

She had left the school, sending a message to Blair that she wasn't feeling well. Her friend had replied back, saying that she should get a good night's sleep because tomorrow she was throwing a dinner party for everyone.

Walking into Central Park, with a Mocha Latte in her hand, Serena smiled fondly at all the memories they had shared here. If though she had traveled most of the globe, the only place she would ever feel like home was New York. And it wasn't just because of the Park or the steps of the Met or the Barneys, but New York was home.

"A penny for your thoughts?" asked Chuck, sitting down beside her. Where had he come from? Serena shrugged, mentally and offered him her coffee. He shook his head. Surprisingly, coffee was the one thing Chuck hated. Everyone could practically picture him chugging down cups and cups of coffee after a hangover but Chuck Bass's firmly believe in "poison kills poison," otherwise known as alcohol kills a hangover.

"I think my thoughts are worth more than a penny."

Chuck rolled his eyes. "A hundred dollar bill for your thoughts?"

She giggled, shaking her head. "I was just thinking about home, New York…" she trailed off. But he didn't need to read her mind to know what she meant.

"I was talking to Nate." Chuck mumbled, unconsciously taking out a cigarette to smoke. "He said I should break it off with Blair."

"It would break her heart." Serena said, bluntly.

"But she doesn't love me."

Snorting, the blonde stood up. "God, Chuck, you're such an _idiot! _No, you're a boy!" she all but screamed, pacing the length of the bench they were sitting on. "It's not that she doesn't love you because deep down, she still does. Just because it's stopping showing on the outside doesn't mean it's not there on the inside. Divorcing her would _devastate her, _Chuck. What about Audrey, how is she going to feel?"

"It'll be better than growing up with a mother and father who cant stand each other." Chuck replied, looking up. "Audrey can deal with this, we can help her deal with this, she's young, she'll understand."

"Besides," continued Chuck, holding out a hand. "I can't stay with Blair anymore. I don't love her. I never will."

Serena ignored the hand. "But you once loved her."

"Once, Serena. It was a long time ago. Anyway, I've got you now…"

-

_They say that there are some people whom you just cant stay away from. For Rhett Butler, it was Scarlett O'Hara. For Howard Roark, it was Dominique Fancorn. For Edward Cullen, it was Bella Swan. And for our lovable S, it seems that the person she cant stay away from is Blair's love interest, whether it's N or C. _

-

_**Yes, it's a Chuck and Serena. I'm pathetically in love with them as a couple but…if I extend the story, I might just think about Chuck and Blair. All you've got to do is review and tell me!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_-_

_Dr. Seuss once said, 'if I were invited to a dinner party with my characters, I wouldn't show up'. If I were invited to a dinner party with the "grown up" bells of the balls Upper East Siders, I wouldn't miss it for the world._

_-_

Having an affair with Chuck had done a lot of things to Serena's life, apart from upgrading her sex life from slightly kinky to kinkier than Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood's sex life because everyone knows that their sex life was kinky.

It had made her more sarcastic, slightly more morbid and definitely sneakier. They had gone from sneaking around with each other when they were in the same city to sneaking around with each other when they were in the same house, like this very moment when they were in a coat closet in the Bass penthouse on 5th Avenue.

"How do you suppose we get out of here?" asked Serena, while Chuck bit her shoulder. She closed her eyes and rolled her head back, forgetting what she was asking him.

"It's a coat closet – maybe we'll wind up in Narnia." Chuck mumbled, rolling his eyes. He pushed the dress further up her legs, making Serena squirm.

"Didn't know you were interested in fantasy novels, Chuck." Serena commented dryly, wrapping her fingers in his hair. She moaned when he bit the soft spot below her ear.

"Fantasy novels not so much," he replied, "But fantasies are something I know well." He grinded against her for good measure.

Serena jumped when the bell rang, announcing that the dinner party had officially begun.

"If you manage to sneak out here without getting caught," she replied, pulling his head up to be able to kiss up, "I'll make those fantasies come true."

He smirked and brushed his thumb over her lips before leaving the coat closet. Serena leaned against the coats, sighing deeply.

There was a tiny part of them that was just hoping for Blair to find out. It would be so much easier if everything was out in the open. They wouldn't have to pretend, they wouldn't have to lie and they could just make out in the middle of the street and no one would say anything to them. But she wasn't ready to ruin her best friend's "happy" life. There was also a part of her that was terrified of the Waldorf Wrath, especially since she had taken all of Blair's boyfriends – Nate and Chuck.

With Nate, it had started with drinking and being giggly and slightly high. It was more Nate than it was Serena, at the Shepherd wedding. With Chuck…she frowned, remembering when they had gotten together, it was more of…lust, horniness?

Blair had gone to Paris for work. Chuck needed someone to help take care of Audrey because the nanny was sick and Dorota had taken off. The only person left was Serena, who was in the Cape, because of work. She took off for a week and stayed at the Bass suite, to take care of the youngest Bass.

For the first few days, the two hardly saw each other. It was on the third night that Serena managed to catch a hold of him for dinner. After a quick dinner with Audrey, after which Serena put her godchild to bed, they wound up in Chuck's favorite place in the penthouse – the Jacuzzi in the master bathroom. Chuck later admitted that he was horny. He hadn't had sex in a week, which in Chuck standards, was a month. Serena hadn't had sex for three weeks, which in Chuck standards, was almost a year. It was supposed to be a one time thing, which ended up being a one time thing throughout the whole week.

After that, neither of them saw each other for a couple of months. Serena would be lying if she said that she missed Chuck. They met again for Christmas. After the initial awkwardness, they managed to get past what had happened.

On Christmas Eve, Blair was too tired to go out for a couple of drinks so Chuck and Serena went instead. At _Velocity, _one glass of wine led to two glasses which led to the club's finest champagne in the VIP room which led to doing body shots. Adding to the joints that they were smoking, neither of them was quite ready to go home. Instead, they walked to the park with Serena's clothes rumpled and one bottle of champagne and a couple of joints between them. In the park, they sat on the bench (later to renamed _Their Bench_) where the champagne quickly finished, the joints died out, leaving two drunk, high twenty year olds.

'If we hadn't kissed, it would've been awkward,' thought Serena, looking down at her Cartier watch. A couple of more minutes and she would leave the coat room. 'I mean…'

They had kissed, innocently. Then it turned into a groping, grabbing, heavy breathing and panting make out session which later turned into them breaking a Federal Law, according to the New York City laws because apparently, having sex in Central Park was a big no-no.

She grinned, at the thought. The Central Park incident started a three year long affair, which slowly turned from just pure sex to something more which both of them were too scared to admit.

Hurting Blair was easier than she thought it would be. Of course, the guilt was there. The guilt had always been there but both Serena and Blair knew that through their legendary friendship, they would be together in the end, even if one of them ended up with the other's boyfriend or husband. It was just the way their husband was. She wondered how everyone would react if they found out – it would certainly be high school all over again. Blair would be furious, Nate would be peacemaker and Chuck would be…Chuck.

Deciding it was time to leave, Serena opened the door to the coat closet and looked around the hallway. It was empty, thankfully. She walked straight into the living room, where the In Crowd from senior year was sitting and chatting.

"Ohmigod, Serena!" squealed some girl who Blair was friends with. "How _are _you?"

-

_Remember, S, high school's over. B wont just refuse to help with you with Chemistry if you spill the beans…_

_-_

"But I love you!"

Vanessa had heard a lot from Dan, up until now. She knew that he had feelings for her. She knew that he wanted her and Nate to break up. She knew that he would do anything to have one more chance at dating her again but she also knew that she and Nate were happy with a five year old kid. That had to count for something, right?

"What?" she echoed, quietly.

"I…well, uh…" stammered Dan, shifting from one foot to another. He wished he could have done this somewhere else, other than the Archibald townhouse kitchen but he didn't have a choice. Nate was already at the Bass' suite where Vanessa was heading off to. "I…I love you, Vanessa. I really do."

"Oh, God…Dan, I don't know…what about…Nate, I love Nate." Vanessa confirmed, doing her own share of stammering. She pressed her hands to the cool marble of the kitchen counter before clutching it hard. All she had wanted was a peaceful night. Not a night with Dan professing his love for her.

"You don't love Nate." Dan exclaimed, taking a few steps closer to her.

"Of course I love Nate," she replied, rolling her eyes. "You cant decide whether I love Nate or not, Dan. Things have changed. I've got Chelsea to think about. We're not teenagers anymore, Dan. I have changed. Everything has changed. _You _have changed."

"But…" he replied, "If we could go back to the way things used to be, would you admit that you don't love Nate?"

Vanessa sighed, shifting under the pressure. "I am not saying I don't love Nate. But…I'm not in love with Nate anymore. We've fallen out of love. I'm not in love with you either," she added at his hopeful look.

He was standing in front of her now.

"But if you could, you would love me."

It was Vanessa's turn to stammer. "Like I said…we're not…I'm not…things change, Dan, you should know that. People change. I changed. We've changed. We're not _'us' _anymore. God, there's so much stuff to think about. I've got a career, a life, a fa –"

He had kissed her.

Automatically, she wrapped her hands around his neck and replied to the kiss, all rational thoughts of having a child (who was thankfully staying over at the Bass' penthouse) and having a husband out of her mind.

-

_You might've forgotten reality for now, V, but it'll bite you in the ass and you know it._

_-_

Nate looked around the Bass penthouse in partial boredom. In the back of his mind, he wondered where Vanessa was. But knowing her, she was probably still at the house, looking around for something or the other. He smiled fondly, when Jenny slid up next to him.

"Hey," she said, leaning against his side, "What's up?"

"Just thinking." Nate replied, his tiny blush giving away who he was thinking about.

"Were you, like, having dirty thoughts?" she asked awkwardly, taking a couple of tiny steps back. "Because that's gross."

Nate chuckled. "No. I wasn't." He looked around the room, spotting the hostess and host being utterly fake to another couple. He had thought about who Chuck's Other Woman could be. Since she had already met Blair, he was pretty sure it was someone who they knew from society. He trailed his eyes amongst the sea of people…nope, none he could think of.

"How's Chelsea doing?" asked Jenny, bringing him back to the present.

He shrugged. "Good."

"'Nessa says she got you wrapped around her little finger," she continued, giggling. "I can just _imagine _you being a doting father."

He blushed. "Well…yeah. I think I pamper her a little too much."

The other blonde giggled again. "Which little girl wouldn't want to be pampered by you?"

But he wasn't paying attention to her anymore. Jenny frowned and followed his dazed look across the room towards the makeshift dance floor where couples were dancing. She wondered whether he wanted to be dancing there too. Craning her neck, she spotted the couple he was staring at.

Chuck and Serena.

She shrugged – they weren't interesting. What was so wrong with two friends dancing?

"What's wrong?" she asked, finally. "You're a little pale."

"Chuck…oh, God, what have you done?" muttered Nate, his eyes still transfixed on the couple. Any other person would have just shrugged it off as two friends dancing but he knew the two of them well enough, better than anyone else to see those little signs.

Like the way Serena's hands were around his neck. He knew she liked to keep her hands on the man's shoulders when she was dancing. He noticed the way Chuck's hands were dangerously low on the small of her back. He noticed the way Chuck kept mumbling stuff into her ear, making her giggle.

They looked like a couple. Definitely not like friends.

"I…uh, I've got to go."

He took out his cell phone on the way to the kitchen, pressing 1 for speed dial to talk to the only person he could. Jenny and Blair were out of the question, since the former was a still a big gossip and the latter would be heartbroken.

"Come on, pick up, pick _up…_" he mumbled, hearing the rings on their personal phone in the house.

"_Hello?"_ asked a heavy panting voice. That didn't belong to his wife. _"Who is this?"_

"_Dan! Give that to me!" _

You've got be kidding me, he thought. It was a joke, wasn't it?

"Hello?" asked his wife, sounding as though she had been jogging, like Dan. "Hello?"

He slammed the phone, instead of actually saying something. He didn't need proof to know that his wife was cheating on him. He couldn't believe this. Vanessa, out of all people! With Dan! He thought she was one of the decent people who wouldn't think of doing such a thing.

He found himself in the kitchen, clutching a wine glass. Jenny, thankfully, had decided to leave him alone.

"Nate!" exclaimed Blair, taking the glass away from his hand. "You would've – Nate, what's wrong?" asked his former girlfriend.

He didn't know whether it was because he thought that Blair should have known or whether it was because he knew that he was the first person she would run to for comfort, something that he didn't mind having right now but he told her. He didn't know whether it was because he knew that no matter what happened, Blair was still the girl she was five years ago – naïve and pathetically in love with the thought of a Prince Charming and the only Prince Charming she knew was him. So he told her.

About everything.

"Chuck. He's cheating on you."

"I know," admitted the brunette, sadly.

"With Serena."

That wasn't something Blair knew, though. She snapped her head up, her eyes narrowed.

"_What?"_

"Chuck and Serena," continued Nate, grabbing her wrist before she marched off.

"Let me go, Nate!" she screeched, tears falling from her eyes.

"Dan and Vanessa are sleeping together," he continued. "And you want to get back at them, I want to…"

Seconds later, they were a tangled heap of limbs in the master bedroom, lips touching skin, skin touching skin and hatred turning into fury.

-

_Remember last time, B? When N broke your hear and you went to C? History repeats itself but it doesn't have to be in the same order._

_-_

Jenny sighed, keeping her champagne glass on one of Blair's expensive glass side tables. She noted, with childish satisfaction, that it was causing a ring to appear. Too bad the perfect hostess didn't keep out toasters for everyone.

That was when she noticed the stack of coasters on the main table. God, couldn't these people do anything wrong? It had been five years since she tried to become one of them, four years since she realized that the Upper East Side would never accept her Brooklyn ass but that didn't stop her from trying to gain entry. She did everything from dating one of them to trying to seduce one of them to even becoming the fuck buddy for one of them but no matter what she did, the Upper East Side wouldn't accept her.

She walked through the hallways of the expensive Bass penthouse, looking at the family pictures that decorated the walls, along with expensive French paintings and some Audrey Bass original. It looked like they were the perfect couple – gorgeous, happy and rich. In other words, they were everything Jenny wanted to be. She smiled, not so angelically when she came across a picture of the whole gang.

It looked like it had been taken on one of the kids' first birthdays. The two smaller belles of the society's balls – Audrey Bass and Chelsea Archibald were little babies with beautiful custom made branded dresses. The elder belles of the society's ball – Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf-Bass were standing behind the two girls, looking beautiful in their own custom made branded dresses. Nate Archibald was standing beside Serena, his arm thrown carelessly around her shoulder. Chuck was standing beside his wife, his arm thrown around waist. She suspected Vanessa had taken the picture.

They looked perfect. Unfortunately, Jenny didn't even come close.

There was another picture beside that one, on the mantle. This one, however, was much closer to what Jenny had wanted. It looked like Serena and Blair were only eighteen when the picture had been taken. Serena looked impossibly gorgeous, wearing a stunning low cut dress that barely reached her knees. Blair looked pretty, like she glowed with the pregnancy that was obvious in the picture.

"Oh, Nate…oh, Lord."

That was enough to make Jenny raise her eyebrows. She followed the moaning and rustling to outside a door, probably the master bedroom from the looks of the double doors. She was sure that Vanessa wasn't at the party, because her brother had mentioned going to see her today. Smirking, she pushed the door open soundlessly.

She didn't know which emotion she felt the most when she looked at the tangled blonde and brunette couple in the throes.

Jealousy? Probably. She had always wanted Nate. She had always wanted to be Blair.

Anger? Some, if any.

Annoyance, too. Annoyance that on the outside, they could be perfect and on the inside, to meticulously imperfect. Annoyance because he happened to be cheating on one of her best friends.

But most of all, she felt power.

Because it was time for Little J to strike back.

-

_There's nothing I love more than a woman on a mission, especially if that mission is to ruin the lives they've taken so long to build. But look out, Little J. B's still our crazy bitch and S isn't as innocent as she was, back in Constance._

-

_**I'm extending it and I'm thinking about Blair and Chuck. I've got a lot of interesting reviews. Certainly more than I thought I would and here's to them and the quickest update Fanfiction has ever seen 'cause I'm a loser who's got nothing to do. I'm not writing about Dan and Vanessa much anymore. The main characters in the story are – Chuck, Blair, Nate, Serena and Jenny.**_

_**delphin4ik – **_I quite like Chuck and Serena. I can understand them well – they come from the same background of fake families and parents who abandoned them. They had the same past of drinking and drugs. They understand each other better than Blair understands Chuck. It's not that I don't like Chuck and Blair – they're an okay couple but Serena and Chuck are a little more realistic in my opinion. Sorry to disappoint you, it's kind of a Blair/Nate too but I haven't decided which couples are permanent. Thanks!

_**itweetybird – **_thanks!

_**BN x love – **_I've decided to make it a full length story and don't worry, Blair's revenge will be more grandeur than I had first imagined. I love Bella and Edward too! they're like the Romeo and Juliet of modern romance stories. I mean, where can you find stories that aren't completely full of sex and drugs nowadays (not that I'm a romantic. Far from it but that doesn't mean I cant dissolve myself into the nicest romantic story in modern times)

_**SMH1986**__** – **_to each his own. I'm thinking Blair and Chuck over, in case you're wondering.

_**akimat – **_that's the beauty of it. Chuck didn't exactly leave Blair for Serena, though. A little hint – that's what the bigger plot is all about.

_**westwickismine12**__** – **_not that the prospect of having someone in debt to me isn't tempting but you're just going to have to wait and see. Or read.

_**red-v0dka**__** – **_yeah, no one thought she would but the Serena everyone knew isn't the Serena in my story. People change and I've based most of this on that.

_**lollipopsaretheLOVE – **_I get what you're saying. It's like everywhere I go, there's a Chuck and Blair. God!

_**anonlady – **_I agree with you, high school romance doesn't last. I'm having more fun with Jenny than I thought I would. She's slowly becoming one of my favorite characters.

_**gleechild**_ – like I said, to each his own.

_**Emerald2564 – **_you're the reason I love Serena and Chuck. Well, not you per say but people who think that Serena's perfect. She's not perfect! She's got blemishes, everyone's got blemishes but just because she's better at hiding them, people think she's perfect. Blair's not perfect either. But Blair wants to be perfect. Serena has never wanted to be perfect.

Thanks to: _**Chairforever**__**, **__**bekstar**__**, **__**Mrs. Quincy, joanthereloaded-92, sofiagb, ericaa13, Consta, bendabletofu, CRGS.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_Lookie here, Upper East Siders. I've just received anonymous pictures from JHDesigner, like we all don't know who that is. If the whole of B's dinner party invitee list didn't hear what happened last night, they certainly know now. Because it isn't C who's rumpling sheets with B. Don't you wonder where V is?_

-

The one question to which Blair had always had an answer to was: _what now?_

When she and Nate had first started going out, the answer was to play a miniature society hostess. When Serena left for boarding school, the answer had been to take Serena's place. When she hooked up with both Nate and Chuck and the whole of the Upper East Side found out, the answer had been to run away. When she got pregnant, the answer had been to get married.

But on the morning after the first time she committed adultery, she didn't have an answer.

_Beep, beep._

Glancing at a sleeping Nate for conformation that he wasn't conscious, she reached over and took her cell phone off the side table. Blinking to get the last drops of sleep away from her head, she looked down at the phone.

_1 New Message._

_Sender: Gossip Girl_

She raised her eyebrows. Life had been so much better before Gossip Bitch. She clicked open the message, her eyes widened briefly at the sight of Nate and her in the throes. Oh, God…

_If my eyes serve me correctly, that isn't C rumpling sheets with B, now is it? All thanks to JHDesigner._

JHDesigner?

"You've got to be kidding," hissed Blair, getting out of the bed soundlessly. She checked on Audrey and Chelsea before walking into the kitchen, tightening the robes around her.

The people on her Who To Ruin List suddenly went up – from JHfuckingDesigner to Serena fucking van der Woodsen to Chuck fucking Bass.

Mostly, it was Jenny fucking Humphrey, otherwise known as JHfuckingDesigner! Who the hell was she to make her private life the entertainment of the whole Upper East Side. She wouldn't be able to show her face in public anymore. The shame, the humiliation of being known as an adulterous whore.

'What was this?' she thought, scowling. Revenge for not letting Little J into their social circle? Revenge for sleeping with Nate because everyone knew that she was pathetically in love with Nate, even though he was married?

But apparently, marriage didn't mean anything in the Upper East Side anymore, from the looks of her whorish ex-best friend.

She had always known that her legendary friendship with Serena would one day come to an end. She didn't know but she knew that they were both too self centered, preoccupied with themselves and too into finding their happily ever after to care about the other one. But they had gone through fights, boys and the works but their fifteen year friendship was ended?

Why? Because her ex-best friend was fucking her husband.

What was it with Serena? What was her infatuation with the love's of Blair's life? 'Couldn't she just leave me to be happy?' thought the brunette. But she knew, that it was actually the other way around. It was Blair who couldn't let Serena be happy while Serena couldn't let herself be happy.

With Blair, it was more of pride. She had done everything to become the perfect society hostess. She was young, successful, beautiful and sweet. There wasn't anything wrong with her and yet, people paid more attention to the shining blonde beside her. It was Serena's imperfections that made her perfect and Blair knew that once you had too many imperfections, perfection couldn't be achieved. So for almost fifteen years, she did everything she could to make those imperfections become greater than the perfection.

But Serena didn't care whether Blair tried to make her imperfect. Blair had seen her blonde ex-best friend throughout the best and worst times of her life. She was there when Serena's father abandoned them. She was there when Serena's mother married her first three husbands and even they eventually abandoned them. After her mother's second divorce, she had this weird idea in her head that everyone kept leaving her because she didn't deserve them. Blair, subtly, had put that idea into her friend's head. People kept leaving because she didn't deserve them. She wasn't good enough to be happy.

Blair had seen her friend ruin every relationship she had had with almost everyone, except for Erik and herself. It was inevitable that she would ruin whatever "relationship" she had with Chuck. But, Blair smirked, she could just give it a push.

Now, if only she could have the blonde in her bed to help…

-

_It really is five years ago, isn't it? You might call me names, B, but in the end, you wouldn't be who are – but mostly were – without me. But from the looks of it, you're becoming the crazy bitch, we all knew and loved, again. Welcome back to the dark side._

_-_

"Are you happy?"

Serena was stunned – because she had never been asked something so directly and openly and second, because she had never been asked something so directly and openly from someone like Chuck Bass. Having a "relationship" with him was like dancing in between riddles. Whatever they did had a bigger meaning to it, everything was concealed between a greater plot of their fucked up story.

"I don't know –" she quipped, turning on her side to face him. "Are you willing to buy me a diamond?"

Chuck scoffed and lay back down on the silk sheets of the master bedroom of the Plaza Hotel. He tucked his head underneath his hands and looked at the blonde, covertly, from the corner of his eye.

"You're not a society whore. I didn't think diamonds mattered to you." Chuck replied.

"They don't. I'm too scared that I'll break them or loose them or something." Serena admitted, her cheeks turning a faint pinkish color. That was the main reason she had never worn pearls, diamonds and big stones, unlike Blair. Apart from the fear of loosing them, she had always thought that they didn't suit her. She wasn't an Audrey Hepburn replica, now was she?

"I am happy," she continued.

She remembered the times when there had been innocent happiness in her life – the Christmas days she used to spend with her father before he upped and left, with only impersonal Christmas cards sent by his secretary as consolation. She was happy when they were innocent, the four of them, before drinking and drugs and sex came in between them. She remembered the first time she had done something actually wrong. Carter Baizen had been one of her more memorable "boyfriends". She had used the term lightly back then (and if she was honest, she still did). With Carter, she had smoked and giggled with seniors, gotten drunk with people she hardly knew. It had been perfect.

"I should be happy." Serena mumbled, twisting her hands in front of her. "But –"

_Beep, beep._

They both turned around to their respective cell phones, clicking open the message within seconds. Their looks and surprise throughout reading the GossipGirl message was same but their reactions were different. It just went to show how utterly alike and yet different they were.

"Fuck! I cant believe Nate would do this…oh, fucking lord, I cant believe Blair would do this! Don't really blame her, though…who the fuck is JHDesigner anyway…wait, it's little fucking Jenny Humphrey!" ranted Chuck, although he didn't move to get out of the bed and wear clothes, even though his wife was cheating on him with his best friend.

Wasn't that what he was doing with his wife?

"She knows." Serena whispered, dropping her phone on the bed.

Chuck raised his eyebrows, extremely confused. "_What?"_

"She knows. Blair – she knows. About us." Serena explained, running a hand through her hair. "Oh, fuck."

"She doesn't know." Chuck protested, rolling his eyes heavily. "There's no fucking way she can know. I haven't told anyone…" except for the little details he had told Nate. "And you haven't told anyone. There's no fucking way she can know."

"Get a fucking brain, Chuck!" she all but shouted, getting up from the bed. "I've known her for sixteen years! I _know! _There's no way she would sleep on Nate – on anyone while she was married to you. I know her better than you do," she added at his skeptical look. "Ugh. I'm going to go over there. Don't do anything, deny, deny and deny until I say something."

Chuck frowned, watching as his mistress, other woman, girlfriend or whatever quickly wore her clothes before she picked up her cell and quickly brushed her hair. If it wasn't quite cheesy, he would've said that she looked gorgeous.

"…relax for a minute, Serena." Chuck mumbled, noticing the stress lines on her forehead.

"I cant…fucking hell," she hissed. "…if Blair knows, Chuck…we're over."

-

_Wow. Didn't know you cared so much about your friend, S, especially since you're fucking her husband._

_-_

Jenny Humphrey should have known the reaction she would get from the Upper East Siders. She wasn't expecting eggs thrown at her Brooklyn window – she didn't even think that anyone from the Upper East Side would come to Brooklyn.

They wouldn't step foot out of their dark tinted limousines, with their Manolo Blahniks and Tiffany & Co. diamonds.

"Oh, God, _Jenny!" _

She cringed and waited, in her Queen sized pink blanket covered bed for her brother to burst through the room, his cell phone in his hands and his hair in disarray. By coincidence, they had come home at the same time last night. Dan from Vanessa and Nate's townhouse and Jenny from the Bass penthouse, feeling satisfied with the fact that she ruined "Queen Blair's" marriage.

It felt like high school, all over again.

"Why would you _do this?" _shrieked Dan, holding up his phone as evidence. "_JHDesigner? _Everyone knows who that is, Jenny!"

Jenny shrugged, tightening the robe around her waist. "That's the point, Dan." She shrugged, giving her elder brother one of the infamous oh-so-sweet smiles. "Look, they ruined me during Constance."

He raised his eyebrows. "So?"

"I'm just returning the favor," she said, picking up her phone from the side table. Sure enough, she had messages from Gossip Girl, from friends and from some people whom she didn't even know, asking why and how she would send a picture to Gossip Girl. "I would do even better if you helped, Dan."

Dan shook his head, turning around to walk back out of her room. "There's no way I'm getting involved with this."

She shrugged. "Vanessa's going to go back to Nate, you know."

That got him to stop.

"She wont leave him, just because you slept with her. It doesn't work that way in the Upper East Side and no matter how much you deny it, Vanessa's an Upper East Sider now."

"You're crazy, Jen." Dan mumbled, rolling his eyes. Vanessa wasn't one of them…was she?

"You know it's true, Dan. If you helped me, we both could get what we want."

He paused.

-

_To ruin, or not to ruin? Come on, Lonely Boy, it's time to show us what we haven't been missing._

_-_

"Wake up, Nate…Nate!"

Rolling around in the bed, Nate was barely aware that it wasn't his wife's voice that was telling him to wake up. It wasn't even the adorable voice of his five year old daughter but then again, she would have probably jumped on him rather than shaking his shoulder.

"Unh…" he mumbled, closing his eyes.

"Seriously, Nate. Get up!" the voice said again.

Blair. He remembered that voice, from when they were dating and he would oh-so-often fall asleep when they were watching Breakfast at Tiffany for the hundredth time.

He opened his eyes and took in his surroundings – the King sized bed, the pearls hanging on the vanity and the Vogues and Cosmopolitans on the side table.

"Wh – what happened last night?" he asked, blinking again and again. "What did we do?"

Blair shrugged, motioning to his nakedness and her robe. "It's kind of obvious, Nate…isn't it?"

"Oh, Vanessa…oh, fuck…Dan, that fuck –"

"Shhh!" hissed Blair, narrowing her eyes. "Audrey and Chelsea are in the next room. Anyway, you need to _calm down, _Nate…"

He nodded, covering his waist with the covers. "Dan and Vanessa…last night…oh, God." He grabbed his boxers and his pants, hurrying to get dressed and out of the penthouse before Chuck or Vanessa found out. He could fix his relationship with Chuck. He knew he could. Especially with Chuck's relationship with Serena, he wouldn't be someone to lecture anyone on extra-marital affairs.

But Vanessa would be the hard one.

"Listen to me, Nate." Blair said, placated and pausing him between his clothes. "Vanessa and Dan slept together, simple as that. Chuck and Serena have been going at it for a while now, I suppose and now even we've done it. We can change this. We can…Nate, we can make everything the way it's supposed to be."

Nate rolled his eyes. Blair and her plans. Some things would never change.

"Ohm, yeah, how's it supposed to be, Blair? Everything's fucked up. Everything will remain fucked up…at least…at least when it comes to us."

He turned around, buttoning up his shirt. He checked on Chelsea, to make sure that his daughter was still fast asleep before he got into the elevator. It was still taking him time to comprehend what had happened. Everything was so screwed up. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They were supposed to be happy.

The elevator _binged _at the ground floor. He stepped out, looking mutedly around the ground floor of the 5th Avenue luxurious apartment building. And also at the one person he didn't think would have the guts to come to Blair's place.

"Serena…woah, what are you doing here?" he asked, his eyes widening for a fraction.

"I need to talk to Blair," mumbled the blonde. She looked tired, Nate noticed. Her hair was rumpled and tangled, in a messy bun. Her clothes were the same ones she was wearing last night but even Nate couldn't deny the fact that she still looked as gorgeous as ever. It was one of those things which nobody could deny.

"But…she knows…about…you know," he stuttered. He didn't even know why he was stuttering. Everything was so fucked up. "About you and Chuck."

She gave him a sardonic smirk. "Weird, isn't it? I know…I just need to talk to her, I guess. But seriously, _you _and Blair?"

He narrowed his eyes. "I just came to check up on her…"

Serena smirked. It reminded him of Chuck. It reminded him of the time when she was as manipulative (probably even more) and sneaky as Blair. He had a feeling that the time was going to come again and soon.

"See your phone, Natie. Everyone knows."

-

_Secrets aren't meant to be kept, N, at least not where we live._

_-_

You don't deserve to be happy.

The sentence was as known to her as her own name.

She had repeated it over and over again, from when her mother's second husband left (the one whom she had actually liked) to when she had left New York, knowing that things wouldn't go back to the same way again, especially with the Peter fiasco and her fling with Nate. She had mumbled it over and over again after the countless times she and Dan fought and eventually when they broke up.

And she was mumbling it right now, on the way towards the Bass penthouse.

"Blair?" she called out, once the elevator doors opened. She took a few hesitant steps into the penthouse before walking confidently to the kitchen, where she was sure she would find her best friend. It was Blair's routine – eight o'clock, coffee, breakfast and the newspaper.

"Serena," the brunette replied, sitting where she was expected to be. "I really wish I could say that I'm glad to see you."

Serena rolled her eyes. "Look, Blair, Chuck and I are _over. _Whatever we had, it's done. Finished."

"Of course it is." Blair replied, grinning. "You cant hold on to a guy for longer than a month, S. I'm surprised that he didn't ditch you after one fuck. How long has it been? A week? Two?"

She had come there to apologize. But with Blair being her usual bitchy self, it wasn't easy.

"Four," she replied, smirking on the inside.

Blair raised her eyebrows. "Four weeks? That's not bad, for my _husband."_

"Not four weeks, B." Serena replied, rolling her eyes. The sardonic part of her, the one that had died down when she left for boarding school was coming back out again. She remembered that one night after she came back, when she was debating about turning into a good girl. Of course, she wanted to become the good girl. She had wanted to change. But there was always that little part of her that wanted to ruin someone's life. At that very moment, that someone was Blair.

"Four months?" asked the brunette, surprised but hiding it. "Honestly, S, that's good, even for you."

"You're pathetic, Blair." And almost ten years of infuriating frustration came out in one rant. "Do you even think about other people? What you did with Nate? What about Vanessa? What about Chelsea? And whatever marriage you had with Chuck…God, Blair. It's over. It was over the first time Chuck ever slept with someone else and it's been over ever since Chuck and I started…well, started whatever we were doing. Four years, B. That's how long it's been going on."

Surprise was evident on her (former?) best friend's face. Four years. Wow.

"Don't worry, S. Chuck _will _forget you, like he's forgotten every other woman he's slept with." Blair replied, scowling.

"You really think he still loves you?"

"Of course he does. We're married, S. We've got a child. That's better than whatever whorish activity you're doing with him." Blair snapped. "Anyway, if it comes down to choosing between you and me, S, we both know who he'll pick."

Serena narrowed her eyes.

"You don't deserve to be happy, S. Not like I do."

-

_The bitch is back, isn't she? But the question everyone wants answered is which bitch. We all remember the bitchy side of S, when she wasn't placated and the middle man, or middle woman. We all remember the bitchy side of B, when she wasn't the grown up wife of a whore. It's war, now. _

_-_

**Thanks to all those who reviewed! I didnt have enough time to name the people. But considering all the hits I've gotten, I would really appreciate it if more people reviewed!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**I'm getting a lot of interesting reviews. Thanks a lot! But the reason why the characters are doing the things that they're doing is because it's human nature. I'm not a psychologist but I know what reality is. And in my opinion, this is reality. **_

_-_

_Every war has a reason. Every war also has an ending but from what I've heard, in the Upper East Side war, it's S and B till the death. Isn't that every boy's fantasy, S and B fighting..._

_-_

"God, she is _such _a bitch…I cant even freakin' believe her. Even after all of this and everything's that happened with Nate and her, she still thinks that she perfect fucking society whore she's always wanted to be? God, she's so fucking full of herself."

Chuck rolled his eyes. Even though it hadn't been his initial intention, he was in the middle of two best friends. From all his years of whoring around, he realized that being in the middle of best friends was the worst. He certainly hadn't forgotten the Blair pregnancy fiasco during St. Jude's. But here he was, in the same position Nathanial had once occupied. Speaking of, he really should call his friend…

"I find the need to point out, you're sleeping with her husband." Chuck mumbled, probably a little too harshly.

Serena whipped around, narrowing her eyes at him. "Bastard." Well, it wasn't like he could deny it. "We're over, Chuck. You know that, right?"

He stood up from tying his shoe laces. "If we're over, then why did you come back here?" Here being his suite at the Plaza. It was his own personal space, away from the Blair drama. The only two women he had allowed in here (not counting the thousands of other women who had gone to bed – not to sleep, mind you, in his bed) were Audrey and Serena. Blair was in those spots too, once upon a time.

"I needed my clothes," the blonde mumbled, faltering. Why _had _she come here? It was an automatic reaction. After the argument with Blair at the Bass penthouse, she had just started walking and wound up here. What the hell was she going to do now? At first, she thought she would have fought Blair. It wouldn't be that hard. She knew the brunette's tricks by heart. But then it seemed so much easier to just leave – disappear. Forget everything happened and let Blair and Chuck be happy.

"I think I might leave."

"And go where?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. He tugged at the tie in the mirror, thankful that the one thing Blair had taught him was how to tie a tie.

"London, probably." Serena replied, running a hand through her hair. "I've got a couple of articles to write there…and I've got to go to Paris and Milan…"

When he had heard her say that she was thinking of leaving, he didn't expect her to have a proper plan. And when she did, Chuck was surprised. He wasn't just surprised, he was shocked. "So, you're just going to leave?"

"I don't really have anything to stay for, do I?"

That was harsh. Chuck cringed but let her continue.

"Blair and I are over, most likely for good. Nate, Vanessa, Dan and I aren't talking. You and I…" Serena paused, sighing. Where were they? "Blair knows. We're over. You…you have to go back to her, for yourself, for her and for Audrey. It's what is good for everyone."

Chuck smirked. "You're running away. Like when you and Nate happened." She opened her mouth to protest. "I know, the Peter and Georgina thing but it started with Nate, didn't it? And you told him too to go back to Blair. Why are you trying to make her life perfect, even when it's clearly not?"

"Because I'm the one ruining it!" she all but screamed, sighing loudly. "I ruined Blair and Nate. I ruined Blair and Chuck. Everything she has ever wanted, I've literally taken it from her. God, I don't even deserve to be here…right now. Chuck, what the fuck are you and I? I'm the fucking other woman, the freakin' mistress. You're not leaving Blair." It was time for him to open his mouth. "We talk about it but you're not actually doing it. Am I just a fucking phase?"

It was a change of topic, was all he could think about.

"You're not a phase." Chuck mumbled, shifting his weight from one foot to another. He wasn't good with emotions, especially not when it comes to romantic emotions. "Four years isn't a phase. I – we're not a phase."

She sighed. She was tired – honest to God just tired about everything. Even if some called it running, she needed an escape. It had been four years. She was having an affair with her best friend's husband for four years! What sort of person was she? Who did that to their friend, their best friend?

"What are we, Chuck?"

It was a simple question which he, Chuck Bass, should have been able to answer. Yet, standing in his suite, he couldn't.

"We're…"

That was the answer Serena needed. She sighed, moving around the room to gather most of her stuff. Unconsciously, she put in the scarf. His scarf.

"Seriously, Serena, relax." Chuck mumbled, kissing her on the forehead. "We'll talk about this in the evening."

Unknown to him, she wasn't planning on being there in the evening.

-

_Finally realizing your mistakes, S? Everyone knows that C will remain C, even if he is in "love" with you. _

_-_

"What's your game plan?"

Jenny rolled her eyes, but started talking about her 'game plan' to Dan nonetheless. "First, I want Nate and Vanessa out of the way. You've already done half of it, but you'll need a better push. See, the thing is that Vanessa will stay with Nate until she realizes what she's missing. You've got to make her jealous."

Dan frowned. "Who the freakin' hell do I do that?"

"Serena van der Woodsen," Jenny replied, smirking, "Is the perfect option. You've got to get back together with Serena – _no! _Don't protest! You'll get Vanessa in the end _and _you'll get to break Serena's heart. Isn't that what you've always wanted?" After he nodded, she continued. "Once Nate and Vanessa are out and Serena's heart is broken, I need to find some way to get rid of Blair and Serena for a couple of days so that I can work with Chuck. Once I get him into bed," she sounded like such a slut, she noted with satisfaction, "Blair and Chuck will be over. Then, with everyone out of the way…"

"You'll finally have Nate." Dan finished, rolling his eyes.

Jenny nodded, grinning half-evilly and half-happily.

He paused, between thinking of to get Serena back and how to get Vanessa back too. "Just remember, Jen. You've got a penchant for underestimating these people."

Little Jenny Humphrey smirked. "Oh, I'm much elder now."

-

_So, Little J isn't so Little anymore? We'll just see about that._

-

It was fucked up. Standing in the elevator, that was all Chuck could think about it. It was fuck-freaking-ed up and there was nothing he could do now. What's done is done. It's in the past. It cannot be changed.

"You smell like whore," his wonderful wife complained, as soon as he stepped out of the elevator. Both of them knew who the whore was, too.

"Funny." Chuck mumbled, keeping quiet to make sure their still innocent five year old didn't listen in. "Serena said she used your perfume."

Blair scowled. "It's Serena. She lies about a lot of things. Like friendships."

He rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to get into a fight right now. After the wonderful night he had spent at the suite (doing everything but sleeping) with Serena followed by the tiring day at the office, fighting with Blair wasn't on his to-do-list, especially not about his adultery. All he wanted to do was grab a Whiskey, see his little girl before heading over to the suite to see his much naughtier girl.

"I cant believe you would do this to me, Chuck. My own best friend, or so it would seem." Blair snapped, following her husband into his study. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the picture of Chuck and Serena at a thanksgiving a couple of years ago. Why hadn't she noticed it before?

"What do you want me to say, Blair?" he asked, calmly. It was a contrast from the fuming woman beside him. "Do you want me to say I'm sorry?"

"It would be a start."

"Too bad, 'cause I'm not sorry." Chuck replied, rolling his eyes. Sometimes, he really did think that the Upper East Side had gotten to her. "If I had a choice, I would do this whole thing over again because…it happened, Blair. It happened the way it was supposed to happen. We're not a happy family. We never were."

"But we could be," she mumbled, taking a couple of steps closer to him. "If we tried, Chuck, we could be happy."

"No, Blair, we couldn't," he mumbled. Maybe they weren't just talking anymore. Maybe it was time for him and Blair to finish it for good. "I think we should get a di –"

_Beep, beep._

Scowling, he looked down at his phone.

_1 New Message_

_Sender: Serena_

He frowned. Looking up, he sighed at Blair. "Hold on for a second."

_I'm leaving. My flight boards in twenty minutes. Be with B. Be happy. I cant make you happy, C. You cant make me happy. You and B can make it together. We can't. I'll see when I see you._

Huh.

She just upped and left. Suddenly, he didn't know what to do anymore. The one voice of reason that was left in his mind was going to be halfway across the world in the next couple of hours and he didn't know what to do.

He looked up. Blair was open. She was inviting and most of all, she was ready. _And there._

"I think…I think we can make it work, Blair."

-

_Now that S has gone, again, will everything return back to normal? Can you really be happy, C? Especially without your blonde by your side? What about you, B, can you be happy knowing your hubby isn't thinking of you in the throes? Don't think I've forgotten about S. But here I was, hoping for an innocent little fight when S decided to leave. Well, isn't that what she does best? But if you think S's disappearing act is impressive, wait till you see her grand entrance because knowing S, there has to be one. But for now, there's no war. You know what they say: the calm before the storm…_

_C'est la vie. C'est la vie dans l'Upper East Side._

_-_

**Wow. That was unexpected. Um. I wrote this chapter right after the fourth one but I had to go out so I didn't update it. I'll give you a hint for the next chapter. It's going to take place five months later. Chuck and Blair might be happy or they might not be. Who knows?**

_C'est la vie, B. C'est la vie dans l'Upper East Side – this is life, B. This is life in the Upper East Side._

_Thanks to –_

_**ladii luvable**__**, **__**BN x love**__**, **__**anonlady**__**, **__**BAM its Lyssie**__**, **__**bekstar**__**, **__**Beautiful-Me89**__**, **__**delphin4ik**__**, **__**alistedfreak**__**, **__**Chairforever**__**, **__**Miss Anthrope**__**, **__**3, CRGS**__**, **__**sofiagb**__**, **__**Ale, blue.moon.smiles, alex**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hello, all! **_

_-_

_I've got a new haircut, a Balenciaga bag and a skinny cappuccino. What did you get, S? A boyfriend, a plane ticket to New York City, an invitation and a headache? Or all of the above?_

_-_

Serena really wished that it was something trivial that had called her back to New York City's Upper East Side. Like a death, or a wedding or a school reunion. But Audrey Bass's sixth birthday party wasn't trivial. She could easily call and talk to her godchild, who would most probably understand why she couldn't be there. Surprisingly, Audrey wasn't as demanding as her parents.

But she was here, standing outside the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, biting her lip.

She had _chosen _to come, which meant that there was a part of her that wanted to be back here, with the people of the Upper East Side. Like Chuck and Blair, Nate and Vanessa – were they even together? She had zoned out of society when everything happened and she left. Blair would know that she had chosen to come. Blair wasn't dumb. On the contrary, she paid attention to small details, like the vintage strapless ivory dress Serena was wearing or the Cartier hoops they had bought when they were just twelve.

"Are you entering, Miss?" asked the doorman, keeping the door open for her.

Serena snapped out of her daze and nodded, stepping semi-confidently through the doors. Blair had celebrated her sixth birthday party – a tea party in the penthouse – at the Waldorf-Astoria and now, the youngest Waldorf-Bass child would follow suit. Serena remembered her former friend's sixth birthday. They had all been forced to wear dresses and mini Armani tuxes. She could clearly remember Nate and Chuck and Carter Baizen and a couple of other boys whining about wearing itchy penguin suits while stuffing their faces with food from Wolfgang Puck.

The elevator doors opened up to the floor and Serena looked down at the fancy invitation she had received. The room wasn't that far away, unfortunately. She needed a little more preparation time to deal with seeing everyone again. Nobody could deal with death glares from Blair and ignorance from society that easily. She hadn't yet figured out how Chuck would treat her.

He would be angry, of course. She had kind of deserted him, hadn't she?

She rang the bell and tapped her Versace Mirror Leather pumps against the carpeted floor. It would be best to get this over with. She would go in, get out and then forget everything. She could take Audrey out tomorrow, one full day with the godmother, if Blair would allow it.

She was in the middle of planning a fun day when the door opened, with Nate Archibald standing behind it.

"Woah, Serena, _hey!"_

Serena grinned, stepping forward to hug him loosely. She pulled away after a couple of seconds and grinned, brightly at him. "Hey Natie."

"How've you been? _Where _have you been? You look gorgeous, by the way." Nate said, sliding one arm around her waist as he led her towards the party. His cone party hat was slipping from his head and his hair was ruffled, as usual. He was still the same ol' Nate, Serena realized, thankfully.

"You don't look to bad yourself, Monsieur Archibald." Serena replied, swinging her Louis Vuitton oversized bag in her hand.

"France, eh?"

"Scoping out the newest Saint Tropez." Serena said, as they reached the living room. "Where's Audrey?"

Just as Serena said her name, a petite bundle of brown hair and doe eyes hugged her legs. She ruffled her godchild's hair and bent down to Audrey's level.

"Hey there, baby girl." Serena said, as Nate wandered off. She was pretty sure he was going to tell Chuck that she was here. After all, that was what best friends were for, weren't they? She doubted she was a good speaker about best friends, considering she had slept with her "best friend's" husband.

"You came!" cried Audrey, grinning from ear to ear. She was decked up in a baby pink sundress, with pearls and flats. It was all Blair, obviously.

"Why wouldn't I come?" asked Serena, looking around from the corner of her eye. There were a few gossiping ex-Constance students, with their kids whispering about her but she had gotten used to that from eighth grade.

"Mommy said you wouldn't come. Even Daddy said you might not come." Audrey replied, shrugging.

Serena narrowed her eyes. She was an avoider, not a freakin' coward. "I'm here, aren't I?_ And _I brought presents!"

-

_Presents, a party and beautiful clothes, isn't this familiar? _

_-_

"_What?" _

Chuck was vaguely reminded of elementary school, when he and Nate used to stand like this – peeping through half open doors – at girls from their class who they had crushes on but couldn't tell anyone because at that time, girls were still _ew. _But elementary school was out of his head once he spotted Serena, talking to Audrey on the couch.

"She _came?" _he asked, mostly to himself. He was a little surprised, therefore, when Nate answered.

"I told you she would." Nate said, rolling his eyes. "I don't know why you didn't think she would come for Audrey's party."

"It's Serena." Chuck mumbled, shrugging. "She's an avoider."

Nate didn't have anything to say. He looked over Chuck's shoulder, at Serena. She was talking animatedly with Audrey, who had a couple of messily wrapped boxes in her hand, along with a couple of packets from various places. He couldn't help but note yet another difference between Serena and Blair. It was an age old habit.

Serena had wrapped the presents herself, probably at the last minute. Her wrapping was messy, like her handwriting. Blair would have gotten them professionally wrapped with her elegant calligraphy-esq writing on top.

"She looks good."

Chuck turned around and glared at him. "Must you remind me? I would prefer to think of her as ugly and fat."

Nate suppressed a smile. "You're acting like a teenager."

Chuck continued to glare at him. "That's Serena van der Woodsen out there – beautiful, leggy blonde, completely and absolutely –" he turned around to stare at the 'beautiful, leggy blonde' again with a wistful sigh, " – amazing sitting out there, with my daughter."

Nate shrugged. "Like I said, you're acting like you're seventeen…you're acting like you did when you were with Blair, all romantic and shit."

"Damn fucking butterflies," mumbled Chuck, his eyes fixed on Serena, "Should I go and say something to her?"

"And risk Blair slitting your throat with her French manicured nails?"

Chuck turned around, eyes narrowed incredulously. "Hold on – _French manicured? _Dude, are you gay?"

"Fuck you."

"Du-_ude, _I know you want to man, but I play for the –" He shut up when Nate glared at him. "Fine, fine. Should Blair talk to her first so that I can talk to her later?"

"Ask your wife."

"Where is my wife?"

-

_At one point of time, it was the wifey asking that question about her husband. Are you sure, C, that B isn't pulling a C on you and sleeping around with the pool boy? You can never be too sure with the Basses and Waldorfs._

_-_

Blair Waldorf couldn't be happier.

She paused in between taking out the cake, made exclusively for the newest and upcoming Manhattan princess. She really couldn't be happier. Everything was just freaking amazing. Her marriage wasn't on the rocks anymore. Chuck and she were finally happy and doing well, together as a couple. Audrey couldn't have been a better daughter. Her job was amazing, she was finally being recognized as the successful woman she was. Everyone was looking at her like she was the perfect role model.

"Hey B." Isabel said, walking into the kitchen with a smile. "Guess who's here?"

Blair raised her eyebrows. "Who?"

"Serena!"

All good things come to an end.

Blair sighed and avoided glaring at Isabel for telling her that horrible news. Obviously, everyone thought that they were friends. None of them knew the Serena-Chuck scandal and the Blair and Nate one night stand. To everyone else, things were the same between the "friends".

"Oh." Blair replied, nodding, "That's…_nice."_

Isabel raised her eyebrows, while pouring herself another glass of wine. "Aren't you going to go say hi? I mean, the last time S was in town was…five months ago, right?"

Blair nodded. And what good five months those were.

"Of course." Blair mumbled, scowling on the inside. She ordered one of the waiters to take the cake outside while she wiped her hands and took a deep breath. She had nothing to be afraid of. In fact, she couldn't even figure out _why _she was afraid. Maybe it was the age old tendency to feel insecure whenever her blonde ex-best friend was there.

_You've got nothing to be afraid of._

She was Blair fucking Waldorf. And to boot, she looked fabulous in a Narciso Rodriguez navy blue Tricotine sheath dress. Her hair was piled into a French twist and she was wearing Neil Lane diamonds, Christian Louboutin stilettos and black satin gloves. She looked everything like the beautiful, successful and absolutely perfect girl she was.

"Fuck."

Maybe it was just her insecurities talking but Serena still managed to look the belle of the freakin' ball in her ivory strapless dress, with her just _there! _It wasn't even in a bun, for Christ's sake.

Bitch, thought Blair as she took hesitant steps towards her daughter and former best friend.

"Mommy!" squealed Audrey, grinning brightly.

Blair managed a weak smile as Serena looked up, suddenly looking nervous. Blair's self confidence went up a notch. She pulled her daughter to her side and smiled, absolutely fakely at Serena. "Oh, S, I've _missed you so much."_

"Why don't you go find Daddy, honey?"

When Audrey was gone, Blair narrowed her eyes at Serena. "I cant believe you would even fucking show up."

"You're the one who sent me the invitation."

"You're such a bitch, _S." _Only Blair could make the nickname seem mocking. "Do you even think anyone wants you here? I think you should just leave."

Serena sighed, grabbing her Louis Vuitton from the couch. "Fine, Blair. I'm leaving."

Blair smirked, triumphantly. "You don't deserve to be friends with me, S. Even if I did forgive you, you're beneath me."

Serena turned around and walked away, hopefully, out of her life, thought Blair.

-

_I'm proud, B. You're still the only crazy bitch around here. _

_-_

Serena was off the elevator, pulling her Bvlgari oversized sunglasses from her bag when her phone started ringing. She pushed the sunglasses on her head and hooked the bag around her elbow before answering the phone.

"'Lo?"

"_Dropping the Ls, are we?" _

Serena grinned, pausing to lean against a pillar in the lobby. "Baby, where are you?"

He chuckled. _"Depends on where you are."_

"Waldorf-Astoria," Serena answered promptly, a light blush creeping onto her cheeks. He could do that to people, without even being there or saying anything that would usually make a girl blush. He was, in simple and factual terms, sex on a stick.

"_Hm…do you happen to be wearing a gorgeous dress, looking fucking amazing?"_

Serena smiled. "I wouldn't be wearing anything if you were here."

"_We should get ourselves a room, then. How does a suite sound?"_

"Definitely. As long as I don't bump into anyone I know." Serena replied, giggling. She bit her lower lip.

"_Seriously, babe, you know what that does to me."_

"What does what to you?" asked Serena, thoroughly confused. He was gorgeous an all, but he could be confusing.

"_Biting your lip."_

"Ho –"

Serena put the phone down, her eyes shining as she looked around the lobby. She was able to spot the messy reddish blondish hair in moments. After all, no one had hair like that, not naturally anyway.

"Christian!" she all but shrieked, grinning widely as she caught up to her off again on again boyfriend.

"Hey you." Christian McLean replied, grinning as he bent down to kiss his girlfriend. "How was the party?"

"It's a six year old's birthday party." Serena replied, leaning against him. "It isn't really the must attend event of the year."

"Point." Christian replied, turning back to the receptionist. "Christian McLean."

The woman's eyes widened, considerably.

Serena smiled, wrapping one arm around his waist. It felt nice to be dating someone who was so famous. Half of the time, when they were attending some über exclusive party thrown by Ashton Kutcher or Katie Holmes, she felt like a princess.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked, not really bothered about the question. He was here, why and how didn't matter. "Isn't there a shoot in the Bahamas?"

Christian shrugged. "Got cancelled 'cause of the rain. I thought I'd surprise you."

She grinned up at him. "I'm surprised, all right."

"H – he…here y – you go…Mr. McLean," the nervous receptionist said, handing over their card with a shaking hand.

Christian grinned a heart melting smile at her before Serena pulled him towards the elevators she had just gotten out of.

Serena could clearly remember the day she met Christian McLean. It wasn't an ordinary experience, to say the least. She had been with Blair and Mrs. Waldorf at some fashion thing when they had gotten a little tipsy. Blair had dared her to put ice cream on someone and that lucky person had been Christian.

After that embarrassing night, she hadn't seen Christian for a while before they met again, right after she graduated from Constance. He was nineteen then, just becoming famous as an up and coming model. He recognized her as the psycho who put ice cream on him and Serena tried to avoid him at all costs. After a lot of persuasion, she agreed to have dinner with him. That led to two dinners, then a lunch date, then a party and finally, the morning after breakfast. But then he disappeared to Los Angeles and she didn't hear from him. She met him again, sometime after the Chuck thing started in Milan. They went out again and this time, she had to leave. But six months later, they bumped into each other at a movie premier. It seemed inevitable for them to keep bumping into each other, which led to their off and on relationship.

They became on again three months ago, when he was doing a cover shoot for the magazine she worked for.

"Did you meet all your old friends?" he asked, as they rode the elevator.

Serena shrugged. "I met Blair. Safe to say, she wasn't happy. She kind of kicked me out."

Christian smirked. "You got kicked out?"

"If you laugh, Christian, I'm denying the sex." Serena mock warned. She knew that she wouldn't deny the sex. The sex, apart from the fun they had with each other, was an integral part of their relationship. Both of them knew that they wouldn't be getting married, therefore, neither of them was that serious.

He mock gasped. "You wouldn't."

"Try me, McLean." Serena said, giggling.

The elevator _binged _open and they walked outside, while Christian figured out where their suite was. Serena noticed, with grim sadness, that they were on the same floor as Audrey's party. With her luck, their room would probably be next to the Bass suite.

But it seemed that God liked her today because their room was on the other end of the hallway, next to the fire escape.

"Hey, Christian…" Serena said, as they crossed a Storage Room. She was feeling a little adventurous and naughty, especially after the debacle at the party.

"Want to christen the storage room?"

The only thing heard from that end of the corridor, a couple of seconds later, were giggles and moans.

-

_Naughty, Serena and sex – now, those words you don't see in a sentence too often._

_-_

Chuck took a deep breath.

He took another deep breath.

He paused at the door, his hand on the handle before he took another deep breath.

"Dude!" exclaimed Nate, rolling his eyes. "Stop acting like you're seventeen. You're twenty two, almost twenty three. She's not seventeen, either. You two aren't in high school, anymore. You don't have to act like a love struck puppy."

Chuck frowned, before he began to pace the room. "What if she doesn't like me anymore? What if she's got a boyfriend or married or a husband and kids? What if she's totally over me and doesn't want anything to do with me? Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmifuckinggod, I'm going crazy here. I cant believe she's here. She looks gorgeous, doesn't she? Of course she does. She's Serena van der Woodsen. She always looks gorgeous. Oh, God, Blair!"

Nate grinned. In their twenty years of friendship, he had seen his friend act this nervous only thrice – the first time when Christine Palmer, the all time beauty queen, a girl three years elder than them, said that she thought Chuck was cute. The second time when he first got together with Blair and the third, now with Serena. It was a sight to see.

"Go and talk to her, Chuck." Nate said, rolling his eyes.

Chuck nodded and pulled the door open, striding into the living room with a determined look in his eyes. Only, the blonde was nowhere to be found. He craned his neck to look into the kitchen and every other room he could see.

"Chuck!" Isabel said, tugging on his arm. "Audrey's about to cut the cake."

Chuck sighed, resigned. He followed Isabel into the sitting room, where his daughter was standing in front of a magnificent cake with his wife behind her. From the corner of his eye, he searched for a tall blonde with negative results. Dejectedly, he went to stand next to Audrey, grinning half heartedly.

"Make a wish, sweetie."

Audrey clenched her eyes shut and the candles out. Everyone erupted in claps and the little girl grinned, while Blair took over the knife work of cutting the cake and giving her daughter a piece. Chuck grinned, as his daughter held out her hand with a piece of cake.

He had one girl to dote on, at least.

When the formalities were over, he caught up with Blair. His wife, happy and looking as much like the society whore he secretly thought she was, grinned up at him. "Hey, honey."

"Hi." Chuck replied, shifting on his spot. "So, um, Audrey mentioned that Serena was here…"

Blair nodded, rolling her eyes. "The bitch actually showed up. I totally gave her a piece of my mind."

"Oh?" he asked, politely. "Where is she now?"

"I kicked her out." Blair announced, proudly.

Chuck wanted nothing more to murder her, Hannibal style but relented and stepped away, for good measure. He took a deep breath and nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He turned around and walked away, happily ignoring Blair's calls. He walked out of the suite and took out a packet of cigarettes, taking one out.

"Sorry, Mr. Bass, but it's a non smoking hallway," a waiter from the party said, as he brought up whatever Blair had ordered. "You can smoke on the fire exit."

Chuck nodded and started walking towards the end of the hallway, sighing deeply.

He himself couldn't believe he was acting like a love struck teenager. She was just a girl, for Christ's sake. He wasn't even in love with her. He had been close, sure, when they were "together" and he was sure that if they had continued "dating", then it would've become something more but they hadn't. She had left. He had gone back to Blair and blocked Serena out of his mind. For a while, he was confident that he could make it work with Blair. He was even happy, for a while.

"Oh…_oh, God…fuck!"_

Curiosity made him stop, his hate for society made him want to push open the door.

He smirked, dangling an un-lit cigarette from his lips. It would be interesting, at least, to see some dumbfuck couple fucking each other in the storage room. He grinned to himself. It would be fun to ruin someone else's happiness.

He pushed the door open, fairly sure that he would find some man and his mistress.

He wasn't expecting to find his wife's ex-best friend, half naked and riding some ridiculously handsome, half naked dude, both panting and moaning.

-

_Your handsome, C. And rich, and mind blowingly good in bed but the Other C, he's more handsome, he's richer and he's even better in bed. You've got competition, C, better put on your A Game. And I don't mean your best fuck._

_-_

**Frankly, I'm not happy with this chapter. I feel like I could've written better but I'm suffering Writers Block, so please bare with me. To all those who reviewed: you made my day, seriously. I love you all! And "Little J" will come in the next chapter and I'll also explain what happened with Nate, Vanessa and Dan but I'm not writing about them yet. **

**I hope you like Christian McLean. I was doubtful about adding an original character. I was thinking that I could make Carter Baizen her boyfriend but God knows where he would be and everything and I really wanted Chuck to feel intimidated and Carter Baizen isn't intimidating. I imagine Christian to look like Jude Law – really handsome, really rich and more will come in the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

_Did you think that you could get away with sex in a closet, like always, S? Not anymore. We're a little elder, a little naughtier and definitely way badder. It's just your luck that C happened to open Door Number 1._

_-_

While putting her clothes straight again, all Serena could think of was, why in the name of hell would someone enter a closet when they could clearly hear moans inside? Unless that someone worked at Waldorf-Astoria and wanted to throw them out, then there was absolutely no reason to enter the freakin' closet.

But then again, since when had Chuck Bass done the right thing?

"Was that Chuck?" asked Christian, straightening his tee shirt.

She nodded. "Unfortunately."

With a strange bout of honesty, she had told Christian everything about what happened with her and Blair and Chuck. Furthermore, he even knew Love Triangle I, the Nate fiasco. She wondered if there were any more boys in the Upper East Side for her and Blair to get caught up with.

"I'll leave you to deal with that…" he said, passing her towards the door.

Serena grinned. "Scared?"

"Never." Christian replied, smirking down at her. He bent and kissed her forehead. "Hell hath no fury like woman scorned. And I'm seriously doubting Chuck Bass is manly."

She pushed him out of the storage room and watched as he went into their suite. A moment later, she walked out of the closet herself and looked around the empty hallway. The Devil in Disguise was nowhere to be seen. Eventually, she knew that she would have to discuss what Chuck had walked in on and what she had walked out on. She was trying a new tactic by not avoiding important things.

Serena sighed and started walking towards the fire exit.

As expected, he was there, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and his eyes squeezed shut. She took the moment to see him over. He still looked the same, a little elder though. His dark hair was disheveled and his branded suit was pressed and looking positively stiff. His lips were set in a straight line and she had a weird urge to just pull his lips apart.

"Hey."

Chuck opened his eyes and stared, darkly into his ex-mistress's face.

"What do you want?"

She hadn't expected him to be nice to her but she hadn't expected him to be this harsh either. She flinched, involuntarily and then sighed, a moment later. His eyes were still boring holes into her head. She realized that she was a little taller than him.

"Uh…"

"Am I going to be hearing this in this century or…" he trailed off, rolling his eyes. And the bastard's back.

"I just want to talk, Chuck." Serena said, softly. She let go of the door, shutting it and walked over to the glass window, looking out in a daze. Somehow, New York City did that to her. Or was it Chuck's cologne?

"You want to talk?" Chuck confirmed, narrowing his eyes. "After you ditched and left for five months with just a fucking message, you wan to _talk?"_

Well, he wasn't taking it well.

Serena sighed and nodded. "I don't expect you to be nice to me, or even listen to me for that matter but I need you to just hear me out…please? Just listen to me and then you can go back to being the asshole you so like being."

He liked the fact that she knew he liked being an asshole. He didn't like that fact, too.

"Fine." Chuck said, relenting. He wondered whether he would've said no. He then wondered if he could say no because right now, there wasn't much stopping him from begging Serena to take him back, on the knees and pleading and everything.

"Blair and I…we've always been best friends, before everything. So naturally, when everything fucked up in my life, I went to Blair and Blair being Blair couldn't help rubbing the fact that her life was absolutely perfect in my face. I wasn't jealous. There's no way I could've wanted what Blair had – Nate as the oh-so-perfect boyfriend and an overachieving mother wasn't for me. But subconsciously, or so my therapist says, I've always wanted to be like Blair. When I realized I couldn't…I wanted Blair to feel bad, I guess. With Nate…I guess I did like him. I mean, yeah, I did like him but half of it was just to get back at Blair for telling me that I couldn't have the picture perfect life she had. She always made me feel like I didn't deserve it, you know?"

Chuck opened his mouth.

"When I said, listen, Chuck, I meant it."

He shut his mouth, obediently.

"But when we got over Nate and you came into the picture. First, the thought of you was quite repulsing, because, well you were Chuck Bass and an idiot. I clearly remember the whole partial Jenny Humphrey rape incident."

Chuck rolled his eyes at that one.

"But then Georgina happened and you weren't the same gross Chuck anymore. Obviously, I didn't know it then. But then 'we' happened and I couldn't help it. Honestly, Chuck, I'm not sure what I felt, or maybe even feel for you. But again, a part of it is always going to be revenge at Blair and I cant do that anymore. I've figured myself out, I suppose and it's not good for either of us to be in such a crazy fucked up relationship. That's why I left. And leaving without a goodbye was just 'cause I hate goodbyes."

She finished with a deep breath and looked curiously at Chuck. It felt nice to have it off her chest, at least. At least now everything could be a little normal, although she doubted she would try and repair whatever friendship she and Blair had.

"…oh, well, wow," was all Chuck could muster.

Serena had a ghost of a smile on her face. "Are you and Blair happy?"

Chuck didn't know what to say. They worked on their marriage, yes but he didn't know whether they were happy. On the good side, they didn't fight anymore. On the bad side, everything between them was fake and slightly reminiscent of the Upper East Side marriages which Chuck loathed.

"Yeah, I guess." Chuck lied.

Serena grinned. She didn't know whether she wanted Blair and Chuck to be happy. "Good, that's good. So, I'm going to go…"

"To Carrot Top?"

Serena rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Chuck."

-

_After letting out that positively heart melting speech to C, is there a reason you didn't tell him about "Carrot Top", S? Or has your guilty conscious finally started to work?_

_-_

Jenny Humphrey was happy.

Despite rumors on Gossip Girl suggesting otherwise, she actually was. Although her fashion line wasn't being compared to Channel and Louis Vuitton, she was compared to True Religion and American Eagle, something that girls could relate to. Her brother had finally stopped leeching off of her, too. He had finally gone out and gotten a job as a columnist in some newspaper. He had moved out, too. It looked like things couldn't get any better but on her mental to-do list, she just had two things now.

_Ruin every Upper East Sider's life._

_Get together with Nate._

She didn't think that getting together with Nate would be so hard, especially since Vanessa was now dating her brother and sailing some part of the world on an exotic honeymoon-esq trip Dan had taken her for. She would charm Nate, eventually. After all, there was very little not to like about her.

But it was the ruining everyone's life that was the problem.

If only that stupid bitch hadn't left, thought Jenny, scowling deeply. If Serena hadn't left, she could've gotten Dan to date her, dump her and eventually ruin her life in front of everyone. But the stupid bitch had left and now, she didn't even have Dan to help her. She would have to ruin Serena van der Woodsen all by herself.

Jenny sighed. How do you ruin a perfect person?

But the more pressing issue was Blair Waldorf. Serena hadn't been such a bitch to her in Constance, not as much as Blair was at least. And the only way to make Blair pay for what she did was to take away everything that made her happy. She made a mental checklist of everything that made Blair happy.

Chuck Bass, her daughter, her job and her best friend.

Well, Chuck Bass wouldn't be hard. She knew that she could seduce him, putting the almost rape to the back of her mind. They had both changed over the years. Especially she.

She wasn't psychopathic enough to go after sweet Audrey Bass. And she didn't quite know how to affect Blair's Editor in Chief position but she would come to that sooner or later. If she could ruin Serena, she could definitely come up with a plan to ruin their friendship.

Jenny smirked and took a sip of the wine. Things were finally looking up.

-

_Little J, while you might think you've outsmarted everyone, here's a piece of advice I never thought I'd give: S and B have three years on you. they're elder, hotter, bitchier and way more manipulative then you'll ever be. After all, you're Little J._

-

If there was something Blair Waldorf knew how to do, then it was look at her best. Being a Waldorf, a fashion sense and an aptitude for makeup came naturally. Unlike a van der Woodsen who looked supermodel-like without even trying.

"You look pretty, Mommy." Audrey said, standing in the doorway.

Blair grinned. "Thank you, honey. Shouldn't you be in bed by now? It's almost nine-thirty."

Audrey grinned happily and skipped off to her bed. Blair sighed, she wished that she could be six and skip off to bed but unfortunately for her, she was twenty three and had a business dinner to attend. It wasn't so much of a business dinner as it was an event for rich people to get together, get drunk and look absolutely fabulous doing it. It was a magazine meeting sort of thing, where famous editors and writers and models were coming to display their work and themselves.

She checked all the rooms for her lost husband and sighed, when she couldn't find him. Chuck had been a little distant ever since Audrey's party, the day before. She told herself that it had nothing to do with Serena. They hadn't even spoken at the party so how in the name of hell could he be brooding over her? Blair sighed and summoned the limo as she rode the elevator down.

They were there within minutes, probably because the Bass penthouse was on 5th Avenue, where everything of importance took place. In Constance, she would've probably walked to the destination but now, she was Blair Waldorf-Bass, Editor in Chief.

"Welcome, Mrs. Bass."

Exactly.

Blair mingled in the crowd, doing the kisses on each cheek and handshakes and hugs until she finally reached the group where the people she could remotely stand were gossiping.

There was Lana Myers, a fashion editor, Katherine Crawley and Meredith King. They were exactly like Blair – beautiful, successful and unhappy.

"Hello, ladies." Blair said, standing between Meredith and Lana. "How's everyone?"

"Just fab, darling." Katherine said, "Quite like this party, isn't it?"

Blair nodded, absentmindedly. "It's alright. I'm sure the Met would've been a better location."

The other three shared a look. Nothing could please Blair "Bitch" Waldorf-Bass, as she was known behind her back.

"Ooh, there's that yummy model…" Meredith said, "Whose name I cannot remember. Chris?"

"Christian McLean." Lana said, giggling. "Isn't he just gorgeous?"

Blair had to admit – he did take good looking to a whole new level. She also admitted, with some amusement and envy, that he was probably one of the hottest boys she had ever seen, including Nate and Chuck.

"Rumor has it," Katherine said, in a stage whisper. "That he's dating some writer."

Lana rolled her eyes. "Darling, they've been on and off and I am pretty sure that they're off right now."

"What makes you so sure?" asked Blair, curiously.

Lane adjusted the straps of her Christian Lacroix dress. "Because once he sees me, the only thing he'll want is me, darlings."

And with that, she went to claim her rightly prize.

Five minutes later, when Blair and Katherine were talking about the latest Oscar de la Renta collection, Lana came back, looking dejected.

"What happened?" asked Katherine, with barely any sympathy.

"He told me to fuck off after I practically shoved my chest at him. That blonde bimbo was laughing. She's totally gorgeous, by the way. Heidi Klum and Alessandra gorgeous, you know? Long legs, long hair." Lana ranted, sniffing. "She works as a traveler or something."

Blair had an inkling suspicion about the blonde bimbo.

_-_

_Comparatively, B, your new friends are a little better than S. Just don't introduce any of them to Chuck. We don't want someone else also taking your husband, do we?_

_-_

'Kill me now,' mouthed Serena, clasping her hand tighter around Christian's. The world renowned writer she was talking to, whose name she didn't remember, was droning on and on about the usefulness of having an sharpener with you at all times. As if not being able to sharpen a pencil would affect National Security.

"You wouldn't mind terribly if I borrowed Serena, would you?" intervened Christian, grinning charmingly. He even had men putty in his hands because a moment later, she and Christian were giggling their way through the party towards the balcony.

She leaned against the railing, overlooking 5th Avenue and smiled happily.

"Feel like fooling around?"

Serena snorted. "Last time I fooled around with you at a party, we were in every English tabloid in that country."

Christian smirked. "It wasn't my fault that you were horny."

"Says the person who was five seconds away from pulling his pants down." Serena replied, snorting. "So, guess what…"

"You're getting a piercing?"

"No." Serena said, rolling her eyes. "Tiffany offered me a desk job."

"A desk job?" he asked, skeptically. He, like everyone else who knew the blonde, knew how much Serena loved traveling. It was her favorite thing in the world, after ice cream and before Lady Godiva chocolates and he personally couldn't imagine her doing anything else. She wouldn't be Serena if she didn't come back from Sri Lanka with beads in her hair or return from Japan with a Japanese pop singer hanging off her arms like a lovesick puppy who was just about ready to marry her.

"Yeah." Serena replied, "As a gossip columnist, here in Manhattan."

"Are you taking it?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think I can stop travelling but Tiffany did say that it would be temporary. They're doing this four-five month thing that will make up most of the space and the gossip columnist got knocked up, so it's actually quite perfect since she said that they were cutting the traveling column for these four or five months."

"If you want to, you should," was his advice. He, personally, had no problems with her not traveling or not.

Serena frowned. "Stay with Blair and Chuck in Manhattan or travel the world? Hm…" She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in.

"For all you know," Christian said, "It could fix everything."

Serena rolled her eyes and kissed him again, before a woman interrupted them. She said something about everyone gathering for the speech and the two sighed, walking in dejectedly.

"Who am I sitting with?" she asked Tiffany, who was currently engrossed in checking Christian out. She was thankful that they were holding hands. She still couldn't get over the fact that every woman wanted to do him, right there, right now.

"Uh…some people from Vogue."

Vogue?

With her luck, it would be –

"Blair." Serena whispered, to herself. She should've known. It's not like something in her life could be un-clichéd, could it?

"This should be fun." Christian whispered in her ear and sat down beside her, tucking the _Christian McLean _place card away.

Serena sat down, purposely avoiding Blair's eye.

Blair, however, had a whole different idea. She knew Serena, better than anyone did and she knew that when Serena dated and properly dated, it was serious. Nate had been a fling, Chuck an affair and she hadn't dated anyone else but Serena was holding hands. And Serena van der Woodsen didn't hold hands.

"I'm Blair _Bass," _she introduced herself, holding out a hand.

After a look with Serena, Christian shook her hand. "Christian McLean. A pleasure."

"Likewise." Blair replied, grinning. "So, are you two dating?"

Serena was surprised and her look said everything. Her eyes were narrowed, in suspicion and surprise. Her mouth was open, like she was going to say something.

"Yeah." Christian replied, grinning as he squeezed Serena's hand. "Three months now."

"Isn't that nice." Blair said.

"I'm going to powder my face," announced Blair, before the actual dinner began, "Wont you join me, Serena?"

Serena looked at her former friend's retreating back. "God, she's even more complex than I thought."

Christian didn't have any advice to offer on girl world.

Serena got up and followed Blair into the ladies room, where Blair was reapplying her makeup.

"You know, _S, _Chuck and I are happy. We tell each other everything. We're totally in love. It is a…well, it's strong, our love. And I doubt anything will break it again. Therefore, would you and Christian like to come for dinner tomorrow night?"

-

_Maybe even I underestimated you, B. What have you got under your sleeve?_


	8. Chapter 8

_**I'm sorry if I offended anyone with the statement about Hitler and Jews. It wasn't meant to offend anyone and I'm truly sorry. I don't want to poke fun at what happened in the Holocaust and have taken that line down immediately. Thanks. Again, I'm really sorry. It wasn't intentional and I really feel bad.**_

_**-**_

_She's got the über gorgeous model boyfriend, the independence and the golden locks – what have you got, B?_

_-_

Blair Waldorf-Bass knew how to host a party.

It came from being Eleanor Waldorf's daughter and having to spend most of her childhood enduring other society mother's parties. While all of her friends were in Central Park, getting their clothes dirty, Blair would sit with the grown ups and sip her wine carefully and slowly. Everyone would coo over how adorable Blair was and Eleanor would beam proudly. It was one of Blair's worst nightmares but at least now, every mother-in-law in the Upper East Side wished that they had Blair marry their sons.

"Why am I here, Blair?" asked Chuck, walking into their bedroom. He fiddled with his tie before managing to knot it correctly.

"Important people are coming over, darling. I want my husband here," she replied, smiling prettily. Ever since Serena had left, Chuck had made a proper effort in getting their marriage off the beaten down track. He attended parties with her, held her hand and even kissed her when gossip rags were taking pictures but until now, that was the limit. In the five months that they had been together – actually together – Chuck and Blair hadn't had sex even once. But at least now she knew that he wasn't getting any from the other woman.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"Just some people." Blair replied, vaguely. She obviously wasn't going to tell him that she had invited Serena and her gorgeous boyfriend. It would take Chuck less than a minute to grab a bottle of whiskey and flee the penthouse.

The bell rang, announcing the arrival of their guests. She was ninety-nine percent sure that it wasn't Serena. She hadn't known the blonde for almost her whole life not to know that Serena was never on time, whether it was for a dinner party or for her own graduation.

"It's probably Nate." Blair said, motioning to Chuck, "Open the door, wont you?"

Grumbling about the reason that the hired help was there, Chuck went to open the door nonetheless. Blair grinned against the mirror in her crimson cashmere sweater, the black pants and white blouse she was wearing. She was sure she didn't look too Eleanor Waldorf-like but made sure that she looked like the perfect wife too. The diamond studs just paired everything off, along with the pendant Chuck had given her for Valentine's Day.

"Hey Blair," called Nate, from the hallway.

"Be right out!"

A moment later, Blair emerged, looking ever so casual, like the outfit hadn't taken her almost an hour and a half to prepare. Her red Jimmy Choos looked perfectly _just there _with the cashmere sweater and added the X factor to her clothes.

She grinned and hugged Nate before Chuck disappeared down the hallway, probably to go find Audrey.

"Who's on the guest list?" asked Nate, looking around the Bass penthouse kitchen. He was almost sure that nobody used this place other than the chef. Chuck cooking was like a national disaster and the only thing Blair could make without burning was toast.

"Oh, you, a couple of people from work, Christian McLean…"

If she had said it a little more casually, Nate wouldn't have noticed. But Blair's voice became high at the end and Nate _did _notice that Christian McLean was coming for dinner. Christian McLean, as in Carrot Top.

Obviously, Chuck had done some research after he found Serena with Carrot Top and Nate being the best friend extraordinaire had lent a helping hand to the research. They found out that Christian was twenty five, named People's Sexiest Man Alive thrice and had more than ten thousand fan sites devoted to him. Every teenage girl was in love with him and every teenage boy wanted to be him.

"Christian McLean?" confirmed Nate.

Blair nodded. "He's a model. Quite a nice person. Oh, and he's dating…"

Nate frowned. So Blair did know. He eyed his ex-girlfriend carefully. With Blair, one could never quite say that something manipulative wouldn't take place. The wheels in her head were always turning and it had always scared Nate, almost to death.

"Is Serena coming?" asked Nate, carefully.

Blair looked up and grinned, perfectly innocently. "Of course."

-

_You've outshined yourself, B. But the question left is, what have you got under your Marc Jacobs sweater?_

_-_

"Why are we doing this? We're intentionally committing suicide," ranted Serena, frantically pushing her hair back into a half hearted pony tail.

"Suicide has to be intentional. It's not suicide if it's not." Christian said, grinning down at her.

She glared at him. "If you're thinking of acting smart, you might as well bloody do it somewhere else 'cause I'm being stupid and I've got no freakin' problem with it."

"I thought blondes were supposed to be dumb," pondered Christian, rubbing her side.

"And redheads were supposed to be angry but the only time you've ever shouted at someone was when that stylist colored your hair." Serena replied, rolling her eyes. She looked out of the window, at 5th Avenue. She would've been a little more assured if she had gone shopping before but as it turned out, they spent most of the time at Christian's suite in the Waldorf-Astoria.

"Hm…" he agreed, shaking his head. "We're here."

The cab stopped outside the doorman, babysitting facilities included building. Christian paid the cabbie and they walked inside.

"It's…"

"Lavish? Luxurious? Too much?" she asked, raising her head to look at him. "Take your pick."

"It's nice." Christian finished.

"It's lavish. And luxurious. Chuck didn't know whether Blair had wanted a townhouse or a penthouse so be bought both. They use the townhouse but it's mostly Audrey's personal space." Serena explained, rolling her eyes lightly.

"Woah."

Although, they weren't the right people to talk about wealth. Serena was the heir to a Dutch shipping firm which her father ran, which was brother was going to run and which her son, nephew or whomever would run in the future. She had always had what she wanted, and then a little more. As it turns out, having a father who was perpetually guilty about ditching the family and a mother who knew nothing else but shopping, she and Erik was lavished with gifts.

Christian's parents were society hosts, who'd always wanted him to join the family run business. But after he got discovered, they decided that his younger brother could run the business, especially since Christian was becoming one of the most famous male models in the world.

"We can still ditch, you know." Serena said, as casually as she possibly could.

Christian rolled his eyes. "We're not ditching."

"God, you sound like my mother," she grumbled, crossing her arms like a petulant child.

He grinned and pushed her against the elevator wall. "I sincerely hope your mother doesn't do this."

-

_He's almost too good to be true, S. You better hold onto him, or you know, go back to the other C we all know and love to hate._

_-_

"Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me," spit out Chuck, narrowing his eyes into slits.

If Nate hadn't seen Chuck's worst anger management requires debacles, he would've backed up into a wall and quivered like a baby. But unfortunately, he had. Therefore, the minimal hissing didn't seem to faze him.

"No." Nate replied, fixing a drink. "Christian McLean and Serena are coming."

"Mother – _ring!_

That was definitely the bell.

Nate handed Chuck the whiskey and soda, more the whiskey, less the soda and patted him on the back. "Stay calm, man. Don't do anything rash and don't try to make McLean look like an ass."

"But he is an ass," mumbled Chuck, in between taking frantic sips of the drink.

"Your _wife _doesn't need to know that."

When they walked out of the study, Blair and one of the blonde models from Vogue were standing there, chatting happily. Nate eyed Blair nervously. He had never been able to figure out what was going on in her head, unlike Serena – whose emotions showed on her face. Blair could mask everything.

"I don't even want to know that's going on in that devilish mind of hers…" hissed Chuck, staring darkly at his wife's head.

_Ring!_

They straightened as Blair excused herself and walked towards the door, which wasn't in view of them. Nate pressed his hand against Chuck's back and shoved him towards the people already present. Chuck turned around and scowled.

"What the fuck?"

"Go mingle, Bass. We don't want Carrot Top seeing you all lonely and mopey." Nate mumbled, before he followed Blair towards the entrance. He was pretty sure that Serena would need some stabilizing person there, especially when she was dealing with Blair.

As expected, the blonde was looking nervous beyond hell while Carrot Top and Blair looked calm and collected.

"Natie!" exclaimed Serena, sighing out audibly in relief. "It's _so good _to see you."

Nate grinned and step forward to hug her. She hugged him back and whispered in his ear, "What is _wrong with Blair?"_

He really didn't know.

"Nate, meet Christian McLean, my boyfriend," Serena said, pulling away, "Christian, Nate Archibald. We've been friends since _forever." _Serena clasped onto Christian's hand, which he squeezed reassuringly and shook hands with Nate with the other.

"You've got a beautiful place, Blair." Christian said, politely. Honestly, he thought it was too lavish. He was perfectly fine with living in hotels for the rest of his life. He was still too young to actually _rent _a house, let alone buy it.

"Oh, it's nothing," replied Blair, dismissively by waving a hand. She led everyone into the living room, smiling warmly at the people who were already there. "So, Christian, how did you and Serena meet?"

Christian grinned. "She poured ice cream on my head."

Blair raised her eyebrows. She remembered the night, although in phases. They had drunk a little too much that night, if she remembered correctly. "How _un-_clichéd. Isn't it just pathetic the way everyone's meeting their "the One" online or by personals. You know, I was thinking about doing something romantic for the Valentine's Day Issue in Vogue and it would be _amazing _if you weren't busy to…"

Serena rolled her eyes as they started discussing work. She reached up and pecked Christian on the cheek before wandering off in the penthouse. She avoided a few people she knew from Constance and ducked onto the balcony. It was getting darker and the New York skyline was becoming a little more defined.

"Hey S."

Serena grinned at Nate and leaned back on the railing. "Natie."

"…so, Christian McLean, yeah?" he asked, skeptically, like any brother type figure would. "Isn't he a little too _red haired?"_

She giggled. "You're yellow haired."

"Red's worse," replied Nate, "Are you guys serious? How long have you been going out? Do you like him _that much?" _

She raised her eyebrows at the interrogation but then didn't say anything. It was plainly obvious that he was going to report back to Chuck about everything she would tell him and then a little bit more.

"We've been dating for a while. Yeah, I guess it's serious." Serena replied, carefully.

Nate nodded. Now, all he needed to do was find Chuck. He grinned at the blonde, leaving her to find a cigarette and walked back into the party. Chuck was, as expected, sitting gloomily by the bar while Carrot Top was still talking to Blair.

Chuck turned expectantly to Nate once he arrived.

"They've been going out for a while – around three months, I'd suspect and they're serious. I don't think they're _too _serious, though. More like just having fun in the moment. You know Serena," he filled in, sitting down beside Chuck.

"So, uh…where is she?"

"Balcony." Nate replied, looking suspiciously at Chuck. "Don't do anything rash, Chuck."

The brunette nodded and sipped the last of his whiskey before stumbling towards the balcony. He was a little tipsy, if not drunk. That was saying a lot for Chuck, who hardly ever got drunk. Ten years of drinking almost everyday had increased his capacity for large amounts of hard liquor at a time.

Sure enough, Serena was standing on the balcony with her back to him. She had a cigarette dangling wistfully from her lips. Her perfect lips…

Chuck groaned. "Fuck." This was the girl who'd abandoned him. He should've been angry. He was Chuck fuckin' Bass. People don't leave Chuck Bass. He leaves them. God, he groaned again. He was starting to sound a little like Blair now.

"Hey, uh, Serena…" he trailed off.

"Chuck – _hi!" _the blonde replied, grinning widely, "How are you?"

If he hadn't been drunk, Chuck wouldn't have done what he had. But sadly, Chuck was drunk and he did do what he did. Kids, this is why they say don't drink and talk to your ex girlfriends.

"How do you _think _I am?" he hissed out, eyes narrowed. "You left, Serena. You fucking upped and just fucking left with a fucking message to remind me. I cant believe you'd even come back. What sort of person does that? I'm not one someone to preach being a saint but seriously, at least I don't desert my friends and people who _love _me to go and find some fucking red haired boyfriend."

If it hadn't been for her dark blue eyes wide open, Chuck would've continued.

He stepped forward and brushed a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "I love you and some red haired fucking ass isn't going to stop me."

-

_A Romeo and Juliet in the making? Or is it going to end with death (of social standing, at least) for them too? Don't you just love a love story in the Upper East Side? _

-

**It's been a while since I updating but I'm planning on finishing the story soon. I was thinking about doing a Next Generation Story with whole new characters and a little plot of it's own. All I need is for you to decide the name of the Next Gen story because I've already written a couple of chapters without a name. Choices are:**

_**1. A Place In This World**_

_**2. The World Turned Upside Down**_

_**3. Us Against The World **_


	9. Chapter 9

_S, the only good thing you'll get from staying in bed all day is the height and loss of weight. And we all know that you don't need to loose any weight or become taller. But then, everyone also knows who you're staying in bed with, so it's that big of a problem._

-

"Unh…"

Serena looked up, eyes narrowed in suspicion at Christian's apologetic expression. If he had been a doctor or a paramedic or something serious like that, she would've understood his need to drop everything and leave in the middle of the night. After all, someone's life was in danger, wasn't it? But who in the name of Jesus and Mary required a model to drop everything and fly to –

"Where is it this time?" she asked, pouting hoping that big blue eyes and ruby red lips, swollen from all the naughty stuff they were doing moments ago would stop him from taking off.

Christian chuckled and snaked one hand around her very naked thigh. "Someone fucked up the pictures for the Armani and Vogue shoot. It needs to be on print next week. I've got to be in Paris in," he checked the time and date on his iPhone, "Well, as soon as possible."

"When are you coming back, then?" she asked, resigning to fact that he would have to leave. She couldn't possibly demean a career that she had once chosen for herself. She still got packages of _Serena's Tears _from various people.

"In a couple of days."

She watched as he threw in a bunch of clothes into a bag. He was already on the phone, calling his secretary – Marty – to book a first class ticket to Paris. In moments, he was done packing and had everything he needed. Christian, unlike most of the men Serena knew, was a light traveler. All he needed was a change of clothes. But then, Serena didn't know many people who were fine with wearing one thing for the whole day. It was the downside of having your whole ancestry come up from the Upper East Side's finest.

"Fine. Fine." Serena replied, getting up from the bed. She pulled on a pair of his boxers and a singlet before following him towards the entrance of the suite at the Waldorf-Astoria.

"I'll see in you by Friday, latest."

It was Sunday.

He bend down and kissed her before leaving. Serena sighed to herself and walked back into the bedroom. She had absolutely nothing to do. No work, no people she could actually talk to without getting the chills (except maybe for Nate) and absolutely no one to mess around with.

She should probably call Nate.

Dialing the forgotten but familiar number, Serena waited on the balcony for him to pick up the phone. It was only nine o'clock. He wouldn't be asleep at nine, would he?

"_Hello?"_

"Nate?" she asked, giggling softly. His voice was a little groggy. He'd probably fallen asleep reading Chelsea a story book. "What are you doing?"

There was noise on the other side. _"Uh, nothing, just…dozing off. You? What's up?"_

"I'm kind of bored with absolutely nothing to do. What to go for dinner? Or unless you've already had your dinner, we could go out for a drink or something…" she trailed off, cussing herself for fumbling. It'd been a long time since Serena van der Woodsen asked someone out. Usually, and better in her favor, it was the other way around.

Nate paused. "Yeah, but…" there was another pause, "I'm kind of with someone right now. Would you mind them coming?"

Serena narrowed her eyes into the New York City skyline. She knew Nate well enough to know that it was probably Chuck. But then again, when did a bout of hopefulness hurt anyone?

"Sure. I'll see you in half an hour."

-

_Hopefulness, S? Or now that the other C's gone to Paris, you want a substitute? We all knew you were bad, S, just not this bad…_

_-_

"_Half an hour."_

Chuck groaned and put down his third glass of whiskey and soda. Blair was already asleep, after hissing with a lovable sigh that he was an alcoholic. He had rolled his eyes and given her a stiff kiss on the cheek before settling himself into the study and working. Everything had been going smoothly – work, alcohol and no thoughts about Serena – until Nate called.

"What?" he asked, already getting up from the chair.

Nate sighed from the other side. _"Serena just called. She's bored, wants to go out. I told her I'm with a friend. Get ready and come over. We're going out for some drinks. I didn't tell her it was you, by the way."_

Chuck grinned and hung up. He changed quickly from the slacks he was wearing to a polo and jeans before making sure that Blair and Audrey were asleep. He slipped out of the penthouse and walked quickly towards Nate's townhouse.

It was when he was halfway towards the townhouse did Chuck realize that he had no plan, whatsoever.

He was Chuck Bass. He had plans, he had dates, he had organized stuff. He did not go to his friend's house at nine o'clock with absolutely no plan to seduce the shit of a blonde. Oh, God…

He could try and be charming but Serena would definitely see through that. She hadn't known him for almost fifteen years to not know that Chuck Bass and charming did not mix. He could try and be indifferent, but then it would be easier for her to ignore her.

Chuck scowled.

Fuck that.

"Fuck…" he swore to himself and reached the iron gates of the townhouse. Now that Nate's Mom was in some part of the world with his father, Nate had gotten the whole place to himself. His parents came to visit, maybe once in three years but usually, it was he who went to see them. He pushed open the gates and walked inside, not bothering to ring a bell. He was the best friend, the Best Man, why should he have to ring a freakin' bell?

The door wasn't locked, so he let himself in. Nate was sitting in the living room, flicking through channels, already dressed in a dinner jacket and old faded jeans.

"Nathaniel." Chuck said, inclining his head.

"Charles." Nate replied, grinning lightly. "Well, your damsel in distress hasn't arrived yet."

He didn't think she would. He sat down beside Nate, discreetly grabbing the half empty beer bottle lying on the coffee table and chugging it down. Beer wasn't his thing. He was more of a hard liquor, Scotch and whiskey type of man. Nate was the one who liked beer and wine and champagne. Wuss.

"Do you have a…" Nate started to say, turning his head half an inch to the left to look at Chuck.

"No." Chuck replied, rolling his eyes. "I think I'm going to let in flow…you know?"

Nate laughed. "Dude, you're stuck. Like, between bridges or something. You should make a plan."

"I don't _need _a plan." Chuck replied, scowling. "I don't. I'm just going to act normal. Pretend that we're just friends."

"Hard to get?" asked Nate, grinning. "Good plan, Charles. Good plan."

Before Chuck could reply, the doorbell rang. They both looked at each other for a moment before Nate walked up and started walking towards the door. He looked back, making sure that Chuck wasn't hyperventilating or anything before he opened the door. And what a sight it was.

-

_You're having your Prince Charming moment, C. Too bad your wife isn't here to be your princess._

_-_

Jenny Humphrey looked around at her posse of friends, feeling extremely satisfied. She brushed down the invisible wrinkles on her shimmering silver and black mini Jenny Humphrey Original dress and flicked her hair behind her shoulder. Her feet were adorned in Christian Louboutin boots, there was a Tiffany & Co. heart shaped diamond pendant hanging around her neck and she made more money than her friends combined.

Life couldn't have been any better.

"So, Jen," said Marisa Lowell, sliding up to the blonde with two apple martinis in her hand, "Heard you're good friends with Blair Waldorf and her crew."

Jenny shrugged indifferently. "I was. If they weren't a bunch of immature idiots, I still would've been."

"Ooh, I smell dirt." Marisa said, smirking. "But your brother went out with Serena van der Woodsen, didn't he?"

"Yeah." Jenny replied, nodding before she narrowed her eyes at her friend, "Where's all this coming from?"

Marisa shrugged. "Nothing. It's just that Serena's boyfriend – that model, Christian, he's gorgeous. Oh, she just walked through the door."

Jenny's eyes reached the door of New York's favorite night club before anyone could even comment. True to Marisa's word, standing there was Serena van der Woodsen, one arm linked through Nate's and Chuck standing on her other sight, looking delectable as usual.

She gritted her teeth. When she'd become the successful designer she was today, Jenny was sure that she wouldn't be the one who the Upper East Siders looked down upon. What she hadn't counted upon was the fact that no matter how much money you're make, you don't have anything unless you're born to it. And she was forced to bear the Brooklyn burden forever. Was it really her fault that her parents had been unfortunate enough to be born poor and unworthy of attention from the Upper East Siders?

She'd even thought about ruining them. She would have, if Blair's stupid Queen drama hadn't come in the way of Constance Billiard. She'd thought about doing it after school too and she probably would have, if Serena hadn't mysteriously disappeared from the radar, leaving everyone gossiping, including Dan. What was the point of ruining half of the Upper East Side's bitch population?

But now…

"So, Marisa," Jenny said, "Did you know anything about Serena coming back?"

Marisa worked at a fashion magazine, as a gossip columnist. She knew everything about everyone before they did. She nodded her head. "Yeah, I'd heard that she was here for Blair's daughter's party. She's been offered a desk job, so I think she'll be here for a while."

"Oh?" asked Jenny, innocently while she formulated a plan in her mind.

But first things first. She had to let them know she was there.

She drew one hand through her hair and let the bangs fall down on her face before finishing the martini. With a last smirk at Marisa, Jenny left to do what she had dreamed of doing ever since freshman year, Constance Billiard.

-

_Excuse me if I'm being skeptical, Little J. But the last two times you ever tried doing anything even remotely bitchy and worthy of Upper East Side attention, you fell flat on your face. But they say third time's a charm…_

_-_

"I was _not _the one who dated freaks in school," Serena protested, rolling her eyes heavily, "You went out with Vanessa."

"But then I married her, didn't I?"

Chuck grinned, "Nathaniel, she cheated on you."

Nate pouted, although he was over the whole Vanessa and Dan thing. He had been, for a long time. It was like dealing with Serena coming back from boarding school. He couldn't and shouldn't do anything about it, no matter how much he wanted to. It was better left untouched.

"I cheated on her too." Nate replied, finally.

"After you find out she's cheating on you doesn't count." Serena replied, gingerly sipping her flirtini. She wasn't about to get drunk – definitely not in Chuck's presence.

"Speaking of cheating…" Nate started, giving Chuck a meaningful look, "Gossip Girl's rumors keep circulating around your boyfriend and some brunette in Amsterdam."

Chuck watched as Serena took another sip of her drink, clearly unfazed. "That brunette in Amsterdam is his sister."

Oh.

"Anyway," she continued, "Christian wouldn't cheat on me."

But that didn't mean she wouldn't cheat on him. Chuck hid a smirk behind the whiskey tumbler. It was common knowledge that Serena had a problem keeping her hands off things that weren't hers, and things that shouldn't be hers. She wanted what she couldn't have, just because she already had everything she could ever want. He was proof. She wanted what Blair had. Now, she wanted what she couldn't have. Incidentally, it was the same thing.

"Is that…_no." _Nate said, looking over Serena's shoulders. "Jenny Humphrey!"

All three turned around, eyebrows raised and eyes wide as Jenny Humphrey strolled up to them, looking as grown up as she'd wanted to be her whole life.

"Hey guys."

Nate was the first one who managed to say something – "Wow, Jen!" and then hugged her. Serena and Chuck stood at the back, awkwardly. Apart from the fact that she was Dan's sister, Serena had never really known Jenny and everyone loved to forget the almost rape incident with Chuck.

"So. Serena, you look good." Jenny said, with barely contained boredom. "Is that a new haircut?"

Serena rolled her eyes. "No. But is that a new chest? Last I remembered, you were kind of…_small," _she whispered the word in a stage whisper.

Jenny narrowed her eyes. "Darling –"

"Oh, don't call me darling." Serena said, frowning. "But I'm going to leave the bitching on you up to Blair. So if you would just run along…"

Jenny stared, first at Serena, then at Nate. He didn't seem to be doing anything to stop her so she turned around in a huff and stormed away, making sure to wiggle her ass a little extra. They had to know what they were missing.

Nate was grinning by the time Jenny was out of earshot. "Since when does bitch become you?"

"Please, she's never liked Jenny. Reminds her too much of Lily." Chuck replied, without thinking. It hit him only after he finished talking that he wasn't supposed to know stuff like that. He wasn't the boyfriend.

"Well. Right."

Serena tapped the table, feeling more awkward than before. Earlier, things had been going great. Chuck was acting like they were friends, without any hidden innuendos or declaration of loves. If she hadn't known Chuck, she would've believed he was over her already. But then he went and did _that. _Serena slid off from the stool. The best thing to do now would be to go home, before things got anymore awkward.

"I think I'm going to head off."

Nobody complained.

"I'll walk you." Nate offered.

"It's completely out of your way." Serena replied, shaking her head. "I'm staying at the Waldorf."

"Oh. Well, Chuck can walk you." Nate said, grinning secretively at Chuck when Serena wasn't looking. "Seriously, S, it's late and you shouldn't be out alone."

"I'm a big girl, Nate."

"And damn good looking one, that's why you shouldn't be alone." Nate replied, rolling his eyes. He hugged her and did the manly handshake with Chuck before leaving the club and the two of them alone. What was the worse that could happen, leaving them together? They would either kill each other or have sex…he didn't know which one was worse.

"You don't have to walk me, Chuck." Serena said, making her way towards the exit. "It's seriously alright."

Chuck shook his head, "Don't worry."

And with an air of awkward tension, the two left the club. The lights were on, everyone was on the streets. It was the city that never sleeps, after all.

"Audrey was asking for you." Chuck said, when they were about halfway through to the Waldorf-Astoria. He buried his hands in his pockets and looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "You should come around some time. She misses you."

Serena giggled, nervously. "I doubt Blair wants me around."

"Don't know about that – she _did _throw a dinner party with you there. What's the worse that could happen?"

"She could cut my throat with one of her diamond knife and fork sets from the Prince of Somewhere." Serena replied, rolling her eyes.

Chuck grinned. "Still come around. It's nice having you around again."

There it was again. Serena put her head down, concentrating on walking rather than even looking for the implied meaning under Chuck's words. Was she supposed to believe that he, a married man, was going to start this affair again? She certainly wouldn't. Not with Christian around.

No words were exchanged until they reached the Waldorf. Serena stood in front of the door, wriggling her hands awkwardly. Was she supposed to hug him? Shake hands?

Life hadn't been this complicated since the Georgina Sparks incident.

"Bye, Serena."

It was that chocolate voice again. She groaned to herself on the inside as Chuck turned around and walked away.

"Wait!"

Oh, damn.

Chuck turned around, an eyebrow raised.

Serena blinked. "I've got movies. You know, old James Bond movies? The one with Sean Connery?" Your favorites? was the unasked question.

"And?" Chuck asked.

"Want to watch?"

-

_I certainly will. A hotel suite, a missing boyfriend, a sleeping wife and two very gorgeous – slightly drunk and very attracted to each other – Upper East Siders. It's a Bill Clinton scandal waiting to happen._


	10. Chapter 10

**An extremely short chapter, based purely on Serena and Chuck. It's very, and I mean very, fluffy. I just thought that they could use some, with all the nasty-nasty going on. I quite like the chapter, and try to ignore the fact that "Truly Madly Deeply" by the Savage Gardens is one of the most clichéd songs ever, but it's given the world some great one-liners.**

_-_

_The last time I had this much fun, it was Prom Night. And we all know what happens on Prom Night, don't we?_

_-_

"I'll be your dream, I'll be your…oh, fuck," stumbling over the words, Chuck managed to make his way to the couch and flop, for lack of better words, down.

"Stupid." Serena said, giggling. She cleared her throat, as though she was giving some big speech and then continued with the song, "I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy. I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, I'll be everything you need…hmm…" she hummed the rest of the words, ignoring Chuck's broken laughter.

"I want to stand with you on a mountain! I want to bathe with you in the sea! I want to lay like this forever, until the sky falls down on me!" Serena finished, with a flourish that came from being part van der Woodsen and part Serena.

"And that, _Charles," _she continued, dropping down beside him on the couch, "Is how you sing a song."

"By permanently ruining my ear drums?" he quipped.

She had to admit – even drunk, he was quite the ass. A cute ass, though. After a moment's thoughts, she reprimanded herself for ever thinking that he was cute.

"Please," Serena said, scoffing exaggeratedly. "You _love _my singing."

Chuck raised an eyebrow. Deep down, in the blood box he knew as his heart, he did know that he found her singing particularly cute. It was weird for Chuck to find anything cute, but he couldn't help but feel that the way her nose wrinkled when she forgot the words or how her throaty voice couldn't reach a high or a low note cute.

"I do not," he replied indignantly.

"Oh, _really?"_

Maybe it was being drunk or just being in love with the blonde in front of him, but Chuck couldn't help but notice that her hair was straight. It was almost never straight and he preferred it that way, it marked that she wasn't perfect, in a world of straightened hair and carefully put eye shadow. Chuck wondered, for a little second, why it was that he liked her so much. Blair was the better option, certainly. She was more sensible, definitely the perfect wife for anyone to have and she was _normal! _Serena, on the other hand, wasn't sensible, she wasn't the perfect wife and she wasn't normal – she wasn't a normal girl, Chuck realized. She didn't have a problem with him flirting with other girls, she didn't mind it when he spoke rudely or crassly and she didn't have a problem if he came home drunk (nine times out of ten, she would be hammered too).

"Really." Chuck stayed firm.

Serena paused. She was slightly tipsy, but she wasn't an idiot. She knew that there was a very high chance that if she brought up the day he had confessed to liking her then they would make the night very, _very _awkward. And awkwardness leads to more awkwardness and then sudden moments and finally, sex.

Or at least, for them.

Serena narrowed her eye when Chuck stayed defiant.

Maybe it was the little part of her that wanted to make things awkward that brought up the topic. "Three years ago, Jamaica."

-

"_Fuckin' God, Serena, you're an awful singer!"_

_Serena stuck out her tongue at him, swaying drunkenly to the music – there was none. She had Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden playing her head, ever since she'd heard some teenagers listening to it in the back of a jeep. _

"_I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy. I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need…" she trailed off, not knowing the rest of the words. _

_Chuck rolled his eyes and unlocked the cottage they were staying at, in the Jamaican island. He stumbled inside, with her following him. It was a nice remote place, belonging to one of their very old and ancient family friends. Nobody ever came around here. Chuck stepped into the kitchen, to pour them each a glass of champagne. When he walked back into the main living room, she wasn't there. He eventually found her in the bedroom, standing in front of the cupboard in her knickers and the black tank top she'd been wearing all night._

_She was still singing, he noted._

"_I want to stand with you on a mountain. I want to bathe with you in the sea. I want to lay like this forever, until the sky falls down on me. You can see it…"_

_Chuck grinned. She really did have a horrible singing voice._

"_I don't have anything to wear." Serena said, turning around. "I'm out of clothes."_

"_We don't need clothes."_

_Her cheeks flushed. "Didn't think of that."_

"_That's why I'm here." Chuck replied, handing the glass he was still holding. She took a sip from the glass and threw her other arm around his neck, swaying from side to side. "Say it, you like my singing."_

_Chuck grinned. "Do not."_

_She shrugged and continued, "I want to bathe with you in the sea, I want to –"_

"_You forgot a line." Chuck said, using one hand to push her hair behind her ear. He caressed the side of her face with a fond line. At her confused expression he said, didn't sing, but said, "I want to stand with you on a mountain."_

_For a moment, even Chuck wondered whether he meant it._

_Serena, noticing how awkward he'd come, grinned slyly. "You love my singing."_

"…_alright, I do."_

-

"I lied," was the first thing Chuck said, after they both relived the memory.

Serena raised her eyebrows. "About what?"

"I don't want to stand on a mountain with you." Chuck said, confidently. On the inside, however, there was dread. He wondered where all this was coming from. He guessed because he was drunk and he would never find himself being this lovey dovey, clichéd and romantic ever again in his life. He should probably say every love line used in history right about now. Romeo, he thought with a grim smirk, beware. You've met your match.

Instead, Chuck remained put.

"…huh?" asked Serena, involuntary grasping her knuckles with her other hand. Chuck took it was a sign to mean that she was happily nervous. Her nervous nervousness was when she constantly pushed her hair back.

"I want to stand on Mount freakin' Everest with you."

-

_Who knew, our very own C, a romantic? And a mountain climber. But don't forget, S, there's another C – as handsome, as amazing – waiting patiently for you. _

_-_

**so, whaddya think?**


	11. Chapter 11

**I haven't updated in a while, sorry. It will change soon, don't worry. I'm not going to make it a very long story so I think it should be finished by fifteen-twenty chapters. Enjoy!**

_-_

_Déjà vu, S?_

_-_

It wasn't the obvious arm thrown over her midsection. It wasn't even the musky CK1 eternally _Chuck _smell. It wasn't even the fact that memories of last night were coming back to her in full force, like a wave hitting the rocks. It should have been, but wasn't, the fact that she could vaguely feel Chuck's head on her bare shoulders.

It was that this whole situation was so familiar that she knew who it was before she even fully woke up.

Serena sighed, closing her eyes momentarily. Maybe it was just a bad – wet, but bad – dream she was having, not that dreaming about sleeping with Chuck would be any better than actually sleeping with him.

Behind her, Chuck shifted.

'Oh, damn,' thought Serena, looking around the hotel room with a dreaded look. There were a couple of vodka bottles on the table, along with a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels. Her thong was thrown carelessly over one of the seats, along with Chuck's sweater.

Serena threw her legs over the side of the bed and picked up Chuck's arm from her waist. She stepped off the bed and tip-toed towards the chair. She picked up Chuck's sweater and pulled it on, not because it was Chuck's and felt warm but because it was the only piece of clothing she could see in the room, not counting the thong. Picking up the bottles as carefully as she could, she walked out of the room and into the small kitchen that the Waldorf-Astoria provided.

The last time she felt so stupid about sleeping with someone was Nate. There had been times after that, but none had made her feel so much like an idiot after Nate. Her best friend's boyfriend! Who did that?

Oh, God.

She did worse: her best friend's husband.

Blair would never forgive her, she thought, closing her eyes. Not that Blair should have forgiven her in the first place either. She knew it was because of Christian, and the fact that Blair knew she now had someone she was steadily dating, that she had forgiven her. She didn't feel threatened by Serena's husband stealing ways anymore.

'Bitch. You're a freaking bitch.' Serena thought to herself.

She washed her hands in the sink and walked back to the room, where Chuck was still fast asleep. The sheet was covering his legs and abdomen, but the tops of a chiseled stomach was visible. Even though she hadn't peeked, she knew he was naked. He looked peaceful and angelic; the only time a Bass could ever look angelic was when they were in a semi-conscious state.

She scoffed. Why the hell should he have to be sleeping when she was awake mulling over the gigantic mistake they just made?

Serena picked up a Jimmy Choo from the ground and threw it at him, hitting his shoulder. Chuck awoke with a start, to glare at whoever dared to wake him up by throwing things. He was greeted with a sight much better, a half naked Serena wearing his clothes.

"Wake up, Bass." Serena hissed, glaring. It was confusion earlier, then the guilt came and then anger at herself. Now, Chuck was the only person her anger was directed at.

"Bass?" he asked, keeping perfectly in the Bass motto of never looking anything but calm and collected. "It was Chuck last night."

"It was also a very stupid and drunk night, so please, don't remember anything that I called you." Serena replied. She picked up Chuck's pants and boxers before tossing them at him. She could vaguely remember seeing his shirt in the living room when she walked back into the room.

Before she could say anything to him, the doorbell rang.

As if the timing could get any worse. Sighing to herself, Serena walked to the door. Who would come to the room at nine forty five in the morning anyway? Half of the people in the Upper East Side lived off their parent's money and would be nursing's last night's hangovers. The other half worked their asses off and would already be at work. She thought, with a thankful smile, that she had a few days off before she had to decide on the desk job.

But a desk job and a van der Woodsen? Never.

Curling her hand around the doorknob, she wrenched it open, only to slam it again moments after.

Now that she knew that the Chuck affair wasn't a hallucination, she knew that seeing Christian standing in the doorway wasn't one either. His red hair and charming smile was unforgettable and completely unique.

"Baby?" asked Christian, from the other side of the doorway.

"…wait, don't come in." Serena shouted, thinking on her feet. "I've got a surprise for you!"

Lucky man.

"Just come back after five minutes, alright? Can you get an Espresso from the Starbucks down the street?" she called out, unsure. "Please?"

She could hear the confusion in his voice when he replied, "Yeah. Sure. I'll be back in ten minutes."

Locking the door for good measure, Serena hurried back to the bedroom, picking up Chuck's shirt on the way. She hurried into the bedroom and threw his shirt onto the bed, where he was now laying half clothed.

"Get dressed. Christian's here."

His eyes flashed, her heart thumped and if it had been someone else, she would've jumped Chuck just for the thrill of it.

But it wasn't.

"Break up with him." Chuck replied, ever so husky. He picked up his shirt and started buttoning it nonetheless. He might've been in asshole but he was an asshole in love and as cheesy as it sounded, it would be worse seeing Serena hurt than seeing Serena with someone else.

"Not _now, _Chuck." Serena mumbled, looking around the room for any evidence of last night.

It was better than a no, at least, thought Chuck grimly.

Once he was dressed, she dragged him towards the door. Peeking out once to make sure Christian wasn't in the doorway, she shoved Chuck out of the door roughly. She couldn't afford being nice and gentle right now, not when her boyfriend was probably just outside buying her a cup of coffee. Sweet.

"Go down the fire escape," mumbled Serena, running a hand over her face.

Didn't growing up mean she didn't have to sneak boys out of her room anymore?

Stubbornly, Chuck crossed his arms across his chest and stood in the doorway. He smirked at her, knowing that the adrenaline was something she liked. Serena glared. What the fuck was he doing? Now was _not _the time to be playing games, especially Chuck-induced games.

"Go, Chuck." Serena said, loudly. She would be close to begging soon and they both knew it.

"A kiss." Chuck bargained, "And I'll leave."

He was an ass, but she was a sucker for boys with messy hair and she was just _itching _to run her hands through his messy bed hair at the moment. Serena paused, narrowing her eyes at him. It was just like Chuck to get what he wanted from a bad situation. She didn't know whether it was a Bass thing, even though she suspected it was, but she hated it. While everyone else was dealing with the bad situation, Chuck was making sure that it turned out in his favor.

"No." Serena replied, eventually.

"I won't leave," the brunette replied, making a move to walk back into the suite.

It was then that Serena leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, closing her eyes. He smirked, in his head, to himself at knowing that he had won and curled one hand around her waist and the other on the back of her head. Serena, half unconsciously and half knowing that she would later dread the action, wrapped one hand in his hair. He ran his tongue across her lower lip and she opened her mouth.

It was Chuck who pulled back and Chuck who smirked. He brushed her hair behind her ear and looked adoringly at the blonde, knowing that it was one of the few times he would ever look adoringly at anything that wasn't his daughter.

"Bye, Chuck." Serena mumbled, stepping back to close the door.

She sighed, once he was safely out of her view before surveying the room again. It looked normal, and that was, it didn't look like she had just had sex with Chuck in three different places in the whole suite. It would be heavily ironic if Christian sat down on the glass table in the living room. After checking the living room for evidence, she checked the rest of the suite.

Once she was sure, she went back to the bedroom.

Surprise or not, she had been wanting to try out her new La Perla lingerie for days.

-

_Two Guys, a Girl and a Hotel Room. Classy._

_-_

Blair checked out her reflection in the Bergdorfs mirror, staring judgmentally at the black boat necked Donna Karen. It was a beautiful dress, no doubt but it better suited someone like her mother, who was reaching her sixth Botox stage now. She eyed the little black dress in a different rack. It was much more her, wasn't it?

"Beautiful dress, Miss," the saleswoman said, crossing her hands on her stomach politely.

Blair shrugged. "Can I see that one?" she nudged her head towards the little black dress, putting the Donna Karen back onto the rack.

"…unh, this one, Miss?" the saleswoman asked, with eyes wide as she held the dress.

Blair arched an immaculate eyebrow. "It's Mrs, actually."

The saleswoman blushed. "Oh, sorry, Mrs…"

"Bass. Mrs. Bass." Blair supplied, rolling her eyes slightly. She put her left hand on her hip and continued staring at the saleswoman, who looked like she was being pulled on both sides by something.

"Here, Mrs. Bass."

Blair took the dress, touching the material with her hand. She held it against her torso and moved lightly to see how it would look from a side view. From the saleswoman's clear look of confusion and surprise, it was clear that she had something to say to her.

"Yes?"

She blushed. "Don't you think it's a little too small for you, Mrs. Bass? I mean, especially being pregnant and all."

Blair narrowed her eyes. People had said a lot of stuff about her but no one had gone as far as to call Blair Waldorf-Bass _fat. _She was a size freakin' two after having a little girl. She was also probably the only Upper East Sider wife who had a job, a baby and a husband. Stupid poor saleswomen didn't get to call her fat.

"One more word and I will have you fired and blacklisted from every job in the city." Blair hissed, narrowing her eyes. "Get out of my face. _Now."_

The saleswoman ran away in fright and Blair sauntered towards the counter, the little black dress in her hand. She didn't see the label or the price when she handed over her AmEx with the definite air of smugness. After paying, she walked out of the store and into the limo waiting for her. It was then that it struck her, maybe the woman was right.

Her job required her to work a lot but it also gave her wrinkles and lines. Her daughter was wonderful, but how many times in a week did Blair really see her? She didn't even want to think about Chuck right now. After he didn't come home till twelve last night, she had called Nate. He had mumbled something about sleeping over at his house and working late but she had dated Nate long enough to know when he was lying. Worst of all, she didn't want to ask _where _he had slept the night.

"Uh…" she said, mumbling a familiar address to the driver, "Quickly."

Once they had reached the townhouse, she stumbled in quickly. Her eyes were tearing up and her hands were clutching her jacket tightly. God damn it, she was Blair freakin' Bass. She didn't have these feelings.

When the door opened, she sighed. "I…well, I had nowhere else to go."

-

_We all knew you had a bad side, B. Just didn't know it would take twenty two years to surface. Well, better late than never, right? _


	12. Chapter 12

**You can kill me now. I'm pretty sure I hate myself more than you hate me but writer's block has been at it's best. I'm hoping to change that soon.**

**-**

_When the Park Avenue Princess needs help from the Brooklyn Wannabe, you know that something's wrong._

_-_

"Oh, my God – _Blair?" _

She didn't think that it was so out of the ordinary. Well, she'd never actually been to Jenny Humphrey's house before but she had memorized the address for something like this. She had never expected to show up at her doorstep like this, but being Blair Waldorf (and having minimal OCD) had an advantage.

"Hello," she said calmly. "How are you, Jenny?"

Jenny shook her head. "You're kidding me, aren't you?" When the brunette's expression didn't waver, she continued. "What do you want, Blair? I don't have time for your games."

"You'll have time for this one," replied Blair, confidently. She pushed her way into the townhouse and took a moment looking around. It seemed that being in the Upper East Side had rubbed off on Little J because the house looked like it had been designed by Eleanor Waldorf herself. The parlor, which she could see through the open doors, was the perfect mix between modern sharp lines and antique beauty.

"I seriously don't think that you have anything to tell me that I want to hear."

"It's about Serena."

Well, that changed things.

A few moments later, they were comfortably seated with a glass of wine in their hands and perfectly plucked eyebrows raised sharply. Blair hadn't really said anything of importance that had captured the younger blonde yet and she was beginning to think that there was nothing Blair could say.

"She's sleeping with my husband," admitted Blair, seconds later.

Jenny snorted. "I'm not surprised. They were at _Chemistry _the other night, all over each other. I'm surprised Nate didn't mention it to you. I thought you were friends," she said pointedly.

Keeping the shock to herself, Blair replied: "And I thought you innocent. It's funny how people change, don't they? One day you're frolicking in Central Park and the next they're fucking your husband behind your back."

"What are you going to do about it?"

What _was _she going to do about it? On the way over, Blair hadn't really thought of what she would do about the situation. To be honest, she hadn't even been sure of whether Chuck and Serena were sleeping together again but Chuck's absence the previous night and her own insecurity led her to the most plausible conclusion. Jenny's revelation of Chuck and Serena together at _Chemistry _hadn't helped.

"I suppose I'll get my husband back."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "I thought you were the smart one. _How?"_

_-_

_Being shown up by Little J isn't your style. But then again, neither is having a cheating husband._

_-_

"You should go."

Serena pushed her hair out of her face and looked up at her boyfriend. "I need to be at Westford Avenue in half an hour and there's no way I'll be able to make it if you're standing here."

Nodding politely at his girlfriend's odd but arguable behavior, Christian walked out of her Waldorf suite. They had spent the morning together after he returned with the Starbucks. The surprise – the very little, lacy surprise had been the perfect welcoming gift.

"I'll see tomorrow, then?"

She nodded. "Lunch at Casa de la Woodsen. How could I forget?" she asked, sarcastically. It was Mr. and Mrs. van her Woodsen's somewhat-annual dinner to remind the rest of the society that they were still the fanciest people in the Upper East Side. Everyone was invited, from Christian to Erik, who was coming up from Brown for the weekend, to the Waldorfs and Archibalds. It was definitely going to be one for the books.

"Bye," she whispered, shutting the door immediately as he left the doorway.

Leaning with her back against the door, Serena knew what she had to do. She could still feel the remnants of Chuck, and then later Christian, on her. The first on her to-do-list was to have a long bubble bath. After she was done with that, nearly forty five minutes later, she dressed and picked up her phone from the suite's coffee table. Scrolling through the contact list to find the desired person, she pressed 'call'.

"Nate Archibald's office, how may I help you?"

"Can I speak to Nate? It's Serena van der Woodsen," she chipped, grabbing her purse and leaving the hotel suite.

"One moment please." A second later, Nate's voice reached the end of her line. "Hello?"

"Hi Nate." Serena said, closing her eyes as she stepped into the elevator. "You free for lunch? I really need to talk to you."

There was a second of hesitation before he replied in the affirmative.

That's how she wound up, twenty minutes later, sitting at Westford Avenue. The restaurant's quiet music and bright lights provided the perfect place for her to calm down. She pressed her knuckles to her forehead and Nate looked at his friend closely.

"So, what's this about?"

"Can't I have lunch with my – yeah, I know, I know. I did something, someone, really stupid last night."

Despite himself, Nate smiled. Of course, he knew what had happened last night. Chuck had called him after he left Serena's suite with the gleeful news. He was happy for his friends, even though he knew that it was hurting Blair.

"You know." Serena said, frowning.

"He mentioned."

"Of course he mentioned. How could he have not mentioned? That stupid jerk," she hissed, scowling deeply. "I don't know what to do. I have Christian and he's…he's amazing, Nate. Absolutely amazing and I don't deserve him and Chuck's…_Chuck. _Blair's husband, Chuck."

"He's going to divorce her." Nate said, carefully. "He wants to, at least."

The little flicker of hope that arose in Serena from those words wasn't welcomed. She didn't _want _to like Chuck. She didn't want to imagine a life with him and she certainly didn't want to break up her friend's family. _Again._

"I can't do this."

"You can." Nate said, grabbing her hand from the table. "You're Serena. You've spent your entire life accommodating Blair and although I don't like the fact that they're married while you're doing this, you and Chuck should be together."

-

_What's it going to be, S? The Mother Chucker or Jesus' Creation?_

_-_

The van der Woodsen dinner was in full swing by the time Blair reached.

She'd texted Chuck to let him know that she would be coming directly from work. He was there already, as far as she knew. Jenny Humphrey was there as well, wallowing in the corner as everyone ignored her. Blair nodded, curtly, before moving towards her own crowd.

"B! Thank _God _you're here. I was dying of boredom." Serena gushed, locking her arm through hers.

Resisting the urge to slap the blonde across her face, she asked: "Where's Christian?"

"Oh, um, we're…well, we're taking a break."

Blair's eyes narrowed. Before she could talk herself out of it, she pulled Serena into the empty guest bedroom and put an expression of worry on her face. She sat down on the bed, clutching her stomach as though she was in pain, and said: "I have something to tell you."

"What?" asked Serena, frowning worriedly.

"I'm pregnant."

-

_Liar, liar, Manolo's on fire._

_-_


	13. Chapter 13

_**So I'm thinking that the story should be finished in the next few chapters. I've got school (SATs, mid-terms and what not) going on as well as my own effing life, I'm hoping to finish it quickly before I get distracted again. I was thinking, if I had the time and energy, to maybe do a Next Generation story with all new characters. I'm not too sure about Audrey and Chelsea's fate in that scenario but it's just a thought.**_

_**-**_

_Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess and her handsome prince charming. The very next day, they got married. And a while after that, her best friend slept with her prince. So she did what any self respecting woman would do. She feigned being pregnant. Now, how does the happily ever after work itself in that scenario?_

_-_

"You're pregnant."

Blair looked up, wallowing eyes and sunken face, showing as much sadness as she could without looking like someone had stolen her Tiffany diamonds. Goodness, it heart to even think about something atrocious like that.

"I found out in the morning," Blair replied, rubbing her stomach gently. "You're the first person I've told. Even Chuck doesn't know."

"Chuck?" muttered Serena. "_Chuck's _the father?"

Blair looked surprised. "Well, yes. Who'd you think it was?"

"You've slept with Nate, B."

Her mouth formed an 'o' before she masked her face into a calm, serene look. She hadn't known that Serena was smart enough to remember that. Although she and Jenny had discussed the possibility of Nate being the "father", it was fairly easy to convince everyone (and herself) otherwise.

"It's not Nate." Blair said, confidently. "The timeline's completely off."

Serena sat down beside her, awkwardly rubbing her shoulder, in a somewhat comforting way. Blair found a rather large amount of satisfaction from seeing the guilt ridden face of Serena's.

"I don't know what to say, B." Serena said, pausing. She hadn't even known Blair and Chuck had sex, for Christ's sake. She was pretty sure when Nate said that Chuck was going to divorce Blair, it meant that they weren't happy. And what unhappy couple had sex? But amidst all the baby-news, there was a little part of her that felt glad that she hadn't allowed herself much time to think about being with Chuck. The self-preservation part of her was much bigger than any other part.

"But, I know Chuck will be happy. He wanted more kids, didn't he?"

Blair chuckled, sincerely. "Yeah. Did you ever think that Chuck Bass would want kids, let alone more than one of them, some day?"

Serena smiled, somewhat nostalgically as she remembered the times she and Chuck had spent, ahem, baby-making.

"Who would've thought we'd come so far?"

-

_Certainly not me, S. But don't think you're so grown up, yet. There's always time for more fun in the playground in the Upper East Side._

_-_

"I probably shouldn't be mentioning this –"

"Then don't, Nathanial." Chuck drawled, lazily looking around at the van der Woodsen's dinner party. Of course, it was van der Woodsen-Humphrey now. The couple in question was enjoying themselves less than ten feet away.

"You're going to want to hear this, Charles." Nate replied, scowling for a bit, "So don't act all snarky when I will possibly give you the most exciting news you've heard in a while."

He was intrigued.

"I was at lunch yesterday with Serena. She had some rather interesting things to tell me. I can say with a confidence that you're ninety nine percent over with your ingenious plan." Nate replied, smirking slightly when he said the last two words. Chuck's plan was nothing and he supposed that was the ingenious part of it.

He narrowed his eyes. "I don't want to get my hopes up."

"I understand," he replied, nodding. "But I still think you should talk to your lawyers about divorce proceedings."

He paused. "You _are _divorcing Blair, aren't you?"

"As soon as I get the chance, Nathanial."

They both stopped talking as the bedroom door closest to them opened and Blair and Serena walked out. Serena had her arm thrown around the brunette's shoulders who was looking around the place for someone. He presumed it was him. When Blair's eyes landed on the two of them, so did Serena's. He'd expected a look of warmth (and lust, hopefully) but all he got was a cool, calm and completely un-Serena look.

He didn't know what to think.

"Hon, I'm glad I found you." Blair said, catching onto his arm. "We should go mingle, shouldn't we?"

Chuck's dazed eyes found hers. "What?"

"Mingle. You and I. It is a party, after all." Blair said, giggling lightly.

He nodded, and with one last glance at the two blondes, he followed his wife dutifully. Serena, who looked away almost as soon as soon as she'd joined them, sat down with a huff beside Nate. If there was someone who could talk some sense into her, it was him.

"What the fuck happened?"

Serena stopped for a minute to wonder whether she should tell Nate or not. Considering she was trying to be an actual friend to Blair, telling her secret wasn't something very friendly. But then again, Nate would tell.

"She's pregnant. Blair is pregnant."

-

_Prince Nathanial to the rescue?_

_-_

In a different end of the penthouse, a somewhat similar conversation was taking place as Blair and Chuck stood beside the bar, one of them cradling water in her hand and surviving at an Upper East Side party without getting drunk. She deserved a medal. Or better yet, a gift card to Christian Louboutin.

"What the fuck happened with Serena?"

"Nothing," she said, shrugging. "Girl talk. We are trying to become better friends, you know."

He hummed, idly. He wondered what would be the best time to tell her that he wanted to leave her. At a crowded dinner party wasn't his favorite place to do so but looking on the brighter side, he realized that there would be less chances of a scene.

So, he took a deep breath and said.

"I want a divorce, Blair."

-

_When the prince charming wants to be with the best friend and the beautiful princess is left alone, happily ever after was about as insane a thought as buying on sale.  
_


	14. Chapter 14

_Nobody comes from hell, they go to hell and if they do, they most likely go from the Upper East Side._

_-_

"You want a _what?"_

It was as though the world had gone into limbo. Noises were there in the background of laughter, glasses clinking together and basically people being merry but as far as she was concerned, it was only Blair, Chuck and a glass of water that should've probably been rum.

"A divorce, Blair. I know this is rather abrupt but I cannot do this anymore. We don't love each other. We barely even _like _each other. I think we should save ourselves and Audrey the trouble by just ending it," replied Chuck, as sincerely as he could. This wasn't a conversation he had wanted it to have, despite imagining it multiple times. He wasn't particularly thrilled about telling his wife that he wanted to leave her, for her best friend, but he wasn't doing anyone favors by staying together, especially not their daughter. After growing up in a loveless household, he knew how horrid it was; it wasn't something he would ever want for his daughter.

"We're happy."

He sighed. "Are we really? I didn't come home last night, Blair, and you and I both know I wasn't at Nathanial's house."

It was most likely shock but she couldn't get any words out of her mouth. The only thing going through her mind was a certain blonde's name.

"Does this have anything to do with Serena? Tell me it doesn't, Chuck. Tell me you want to leave because we can't make each other happy and not because you've found someone – my best friend – to fill my shoes. Tell me you're not going to go to her as soon as the proceedings are over. _Tell me, Chuck."_

"I can't."

He stopped, looking down into her eyes and seeing the pain he had caused her for the first time ever. Was he really such a terrible person that he was going to do this?

No, he wasn't terrible. He was Chuck Bass and he was _honest, _even if it was the last thing he was.

"I do want to be with Serena." Chuck replied, carefully choosing his words. "I will not be crass enough to do it in front of you, but I can't lie. Serena is a major part of the reason why I want this divorce but she wasn't the entire reason. You know what it's like, growing up without love. Do you want that for Audrey?"

Numbly, Blair shook her head.

"If we're not happy, she won't be happy and we might've not worked as a couple but we're fucking great parents and we're not changing that."

Slowly, she was coming to accept what he was saying. The entire mind blowing plan she and Jenny had come up with looked stupid now, in face of what was happening. She couldn't believe she had recruited Jenny Humphrey to help her win back her husband. A husband, who it now seemed, was evidently not going to be won back. She found herself wondering whether she wanted to win him back anyway. Life with Chuck hadn't been as great to her as she'd thought. And although she thought that life without Chuck wouldn't be any better, she could be wrong. It'd happened before.

"I need to talk to someone first."

-

_From the way I see it, someone's growing up. But how will our dear S see it? _

_-_

Nate laughed.

She told him that her best friend was having the love of her life's baby and he laughed. She peered closely at the whiskey on the rocks to see if someone had slipped him something before looking back at his face, which still showing remnants of laughter.

"Blair can't be pregnant."

Serena rolled her eyes. "I know you're rooting for Chuck and I, Nate, but it's happening."

"No, Blair _can't _be pregnant." Nate replied, slowly as though he was talking to a five year old child. "It's impossible. Chuck got a vasectomy done a few months ago."

The words hung around her head.

It did seem to explain a lot of stuff – the way they hadn't used a condom when they had slept together, the way Chuck seemed so utterly unbothered when they had sex. She hadn't thought more of it then but now, it was making more sense than anything else. She knew Chuck wanted to get it done, eventually, but she also knew he had wanted more kids. Whether the more kids were with Blair or not, she still wasn't sure.

"You're fucking kidding me."

Nate paused. "Blair told you she's pregnant? She doesn't know about Chuck's surgery so…wow, I knew she was vindictive, but…"

Instantly, Serena defended her best friend. It was so natural to her, like breathing, that she didn't even realize it when she did it. They were best friend. For nearly one fourth of a century and there was no way that someone, even Nate, got away with calling her best friend something like that.

"All she wanted was her husband back. I don't blame her. I probably would've done the same thing."

Nate's eyes widened. "Uh oh."

"What?" asked Serena, immediately tensing. She looked at where Nate's eyes were focused and turned around, just in time to see Blair stalking towards them. She didn't look like a raging bull, so she took that as a good sign. But from the way her eyes were narrowed, it wasn't going to be pretty.

"We need to talk."

Serena dutifully followed Blair into the bedroom they had occupied earlier, shutting the door behind her. She watched as Blair paced around the room, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes in slits. She was thinking about what to say.

"You slept with my husband," muttered Blair, finally. "I don't fucking understand you, Serena. First Nate, then Chuck and now, Chuck again? Is it some sick fascination with having what I have? Because trust me, next to you, I've got very little. We're above petty little arguments over dolls and fifth grade playground boyfriends now, I know, but…you've always had everything. You had the beautiful blonde hair, the body, the boys flocking around you. _You _were the girl everyone wanted to be. All I had was a mother who preferred you and Nate, who saw me first. Whom _I _saw fist. But you took him away. I had Chuck, then. And you just had to take him away, didn't you?"

"It's not about wanting what you've got." Serena explained, nervously wringing her hands, "It's about…God, B, I don't know. With Nate, it was…stupid and completely unforgivable and so fucked up that I didn't even think about it before I split. But with Chuck, it started out as just sex but it became something more."

"I don't expect you to forgive me. I know I wouldn't, if I were you. But that's just it," she said, looking down at her feet. Although physically taller than her, the bigger person in the room was Blair. "I never wanted what you had. For a long time, I wanted to _be _you. You were perfect, B. Headbands and dresses and etiquette and I wasn't. I would die out of people's heads as the wild child and you'd give them tea and biscuits."

She wanted to feel smug. Blair had thought this would feel _nice. _But all it did was make her realize who the real enemy was.

"We're fucked you, S. But you're all I've got."

With a little snicker, she whispered: "You know I love you."

-

_You never thought that the lion and the mouse would be friends, or that the hare would win the race or that the frog would turn into a prince but you never thought that the sophisticated divorcee and the slutty adulterer could be friends either, did you?_

_-_

_**I was going to write a little Chuck and Serena making up piece here but I loved the ending too much. They'll be in the epilogue, which will probably take place around a year later.**_


	15. Chapter 15

**Epilogue**

_One Year Later_

_-_

_**Sightings: B **__and __**N **__meeting up for lunch at __**Kingston Residence**__. __**B **__and __**N **__shopping for __**N**__'s daughter's birthday at __**Barneys. B **__and __**N **__taking a jog through __**Central Park. **__I'm sensing a pattern here, aren't you? __**Little J **__walking with her head down in __**JFK **__and __**B **__thinking, 'yeah, you'd better run!' at her. __**D **__and __**V **__enjoying their __**Brooklyn**__-ness at a gallery opening. Why am I not surprised? And last, but certainly not the least, __**C **__and __**S **__taking __**C**__'s daughter to school. Adorable (see: make me wants to puke) much?_

_-_

It was the question every father and his girlfriend of only eleven months regretted.

"Daddy, can I have a little brother to play with?"

Chuck blanched. He was hoping the 'where do babies come from?' talk would come before this. Audrey had settled extremely well to the divorce and both her parent's relationships with other people. Blair and Chuck had managed to have a sophisticated divorce. Audrey spent the weeks with Blair, the weekends and holidays with Chuck. They celebrated all major holidays together anyway, like Christmas and Thanksgiving and New Years' Eve. Things had changed very little for Audrey, which was how they wanted it.

"Babe," Serena said, tugging Audrey towards her side, "I think you should ask your Mom first. From what I've heard, it'll probably be sooner for them than for us."

Chuck raised an eyebrow at Serena and she mouthed back: _girls talk._

"Okay." Audrey said, innocently. They left her at the gates of St. Augustine's and waved until she was inside before continuing their walk back to the penthouse. It wasn't the same one that Blair and Chuck had lived in but a slightly smaller, a little more personal one which Blair had decorated for them.

"I can't believe you told my six year old that her mother and Nathanial are having a lot of sex."

Serena smirked. "Lighten up, Chuck. She would've found out anyway. I walked in on the two of them going at it at a Barneys' changing room." She shuddered, dramatically, causing Chuck to grin lightly.

"Do you ever want kids?"

The question surprised her. Audrey wasn't her step-daughter, but was as close. She was Audrey's Godmother and only aunt. As far as she concerned, she was much happier being Cool Aunt Serena rather than Step-Mom Serena. Kids had never been in the van der Woodsen's life plan. Eric was going to have children, probably. Her nieces, nephews and godchild were the only kids in her life.

"I don't know. I wouldn't mind some." Serena found herself saying. "But I thought you had the surgery."

He shrugged. "Adoption. I always wanted to adopt."

The thought made her warm and tingly on the inside. Maybe someday, in the far and distant future, they would adopt kids. But until then…

"You're thinking too far ahead, Mr. Bass. Let's practice the natural technique right now."

-

_And maybe, someday, I'd have more van der Woodsens and Basses and Archibalds and Waldorfs to gossip about. But until then, I'll satisfy myself with what I have and all the naughty things they're doing because, trust me, they're always doing something naughty._

_XOXO, Gossip Girl. _

_-_

_**And it's finally over! I'm so happy that I've been able to finish this story. I'd love some feedback about the sequel on the second generation. **_


	16. Chapter 16

Hello, all!

First of all, this isn't a chapter. Sorry. I hate the fake-chapter bit, but I guess I'm a hypocrite for doing it to you all.

This is to announce that the sequel of the Other Side of the World, featuring the next generation and my evil little creations, is out! It isn't technically a sequel, though. It doesn't have much to do with The Other Side of the World. It's got canon couples and focuses on the kids. So, to be clear, the couples and their kids are - Serena & Nate have twins, Chuck & Blair have two kids, Vanessa and Dan have a daughter. Jenny is nowhere to be found.

**THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN**

_"If you thought the first generation was trouble, you're in for a surprise. When the parents are away, the kids come out to play. And they play dirty."_

BTW, I'll delete this fake-chapter in a week.

Fare thee well.

**D **and **E**, whoever you are - if you don't like the story, then don't read it. No one's forcing you. And as for the rape and abuse comment, that's really insensitive. You can't joke about something like that even if you've been through it. It's not something to take lightly and I really hope that you aren't. BTW, I'm writing the story and I'll write it however I want, so if you don't like it, don't read it.


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